English

Abstract

BACKGROUND: There is limited data on the spectrum of benign and malignant neoplasms of skin and subcutis in India. AIM: This study was undertaken in a tertiary care hospital of Uttarakhand to evaluate the frequency of various neoplasms affecting skin and subcutis in biopsy specimens. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A retrospective and prospective analysis of 660 skin biopsies was undertaken. The neoplasms were categorized as per International classification of World health Organization (WHO). RESULTS: Of all the skin biopsies analyzed, tumors were seen in 24.5% (162/660). Benign neoplasms were more frequently seen (72.8 %) than malignant neoplasms (27.2%). Benign to malignant ratio was 2.7:1. Amongst the benign neoplasms, soft tissue tumors including vascular, fibrous/ fibrohistiocytic, lipomatous and neural tumors constituted the largest group (61.2%) followed by appendageal tumors (22.0%), melanocytic naevi (12.3%) and keratinocytic tumors (5.1%). On the other hand, amongst the malignant neoplasms, keratinocytic tumors were the commonest (77.3%) followed by melanoma (9.1%) and appendageal tumors (9.1%). CONCLUSION: Soft tissue tumors of skin and subcutis form the largest group amongst the benign neoplasms and keratinocytic tumors are the commonest malignant skin tumors.