Dermatologic Oncology: The Past 50 Years.

Area of Science:

• Dermatologic Oncology
• Surgical Oncology
• Cutaneous Malignancies

Background:

• Dermatologic oncology has seen significant evolution over the past five decades.
• Advances in diagnosis and treatment have impacted common (melanoma, BCC, cSCC) and rare (MCC, EMPD, DFSP) skin cancers.
• Dermatologic Surgery (DS) has been integral to these developments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore historical advancements in dermatologic oncology.
• To focus on the evolution of treating melanoma, BCC, and cSCC.
• To examine the role of DS in the progress of treating rare skin tumors like MCC, DFSP, and EMPD.

Main Methods:

• A rapid review of literature from 1975 to 2025 was conducted.
• Searches were performed on PubMed and the DS database using specific search terms for each skin cancer type.
• Search strategies were refined to isolate dermatologic oncology within the dermatologic surgery literature.

Main Results:

• From 1975-2025, DS published a significant percentage of articles on melanoma (26.5%), MCC (11.2%), EMPD (10.2%), and DFSP (24.2%).
• DS also contributed to BCC (5.3%) and cSCC (4.7%) literature.
• The volume of publications in dermatologic oncology has substantially increased over this period.

Conclusions:

• Dermatologic Surgery (DS) has been pivotal in advancing dermatologic oncology.
• DS acts as a key platform for disseminating research findings in skin cancer.
• The field's research scope has broadened, with a notable rise in publication volume over 50 years.