Clinical and epidemiological characterization of patients with basal cell carcinoma at the northern area of Ciego de Avila

Introduction: basal cell carcinoma is the most common malignant tumor, which accounts for approximately 75 or 80 % of all non-melanoma skin cancer in whites. Studies concerning this issue at the northern care area of Ciego de Avila are lacked. Objective: to characterize clinically and epidemiologically all patients with basal cell carcinoma attended in the maxillofacial surgery service at the Hospital Provincial Docente “Roberto Rodríguez Fernández”, Morón, Ciego de Ávila, Cuba, from January 2019 to January 2020. Method: a cross-sectional descriptive observational study was conducted in 118 patients with this diagnosis, where the variables studied were as follow: age, sex, the anatomical location of tumor, predisposing factors, clinical forms of tumor and its clinical stage. Results: male sex (60.2%) and age group 60-74 years (51.7%) were predominant. Nodular clinical form was present in 44.1% of the total, with a higher incidence in the nasal region (39.8%). The predisposing factor in 97% of the cases was white or pink skin. The population studied was mostly in clinical stage II (43.2%). Conclusions: family pathological history, sun exposure and white or pink skin have a marked influence on the appearance of basal cell carcinoma, which allows an adequate diagnosis of the disease, as well as the development of health promotion and prevention activities for these predisposing factors.