Background: Skin cancer is the most prevalent cancer in Iran. However, its epidemiology has not been completely reviewed and limited research has been undertaken in this area. This study aimed to review the skin cancer epidemiology and changes in its trends in Iran over the last decade.

Materials and Methods: In this study, articles from national and international scientific databases published during 2000-2011 on epidemiology and risk factors of skin cancer were systematically reviewed. In total, 15 articles from national databases and five articles from other databases were selected reports from the national cancer registry were also reviewed.

Results: According to the national cancer registry reports since 2003 to 2008, age-standardized incidence rate for skin cancer increased significantly the highest and lowest age-standardized incidence rates were observed in the 80-84 and 0-4 age groups, respectively. Although the percentage of cases with skin cancer to all cancers declined from 15.8% to 13.1% over the period, skin cancer still has the highest prevalence among all cancers in Iran. The most common morphologic form of skin cancer in Iran is basal cell carcinoma its incidence rates in women and men decreased from 75.9% to 65.9% and 69% to 59.1%, respectively. Face, head and neck were the most common sites for skin cancer in 92% of the cases.

Conclusion: Considering the increasing incidence of skin cancer and limited research done in this area in Iran, further studies are needed to investigate the risk factors, prevention strategies and survival for this cancer.