BACKGROUND: The morbidity from skin squamous cell cancers is increasing worldwide. In Brazil there are no studies on the morbidity coefficients for this type of cancer. OBJECTIVES: To determine the morbidity coefficients, analyze and classify the squamous cell cancers diagnosed in the city of Blumenau-SC-Brazil, from 1980 to 1999, according to their most important clinical and histologic features. METHODS: The author reviewed the histopathological exams at two laboratories in the city of Blumenau, with respect to sex, age, anatomical site and histologic type. The morbidity coefficients were calculated using the number of squamous cell cancers found and estimated annual population. RESULTS: We identified 2,195 tumors, with a higher incidence in males and individuals over 60 years of age. Regarding the anatomical site, we found more tumors in sun exposed areas. The morbidity coefficients varied from 31.1 cases per 100,000 inhabitants/year in 1980 to 86.3 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in 1989. CONCLUSIONS: Squamous cell cancers in Blumenau present similar patterns of distribution according to age, anatomical site and histological types as the world literature and the coefficients of morbidity were the only ones found in the Brazilian literature consulted.
carcinoma; epidemiology; morbidity; neoplasms
