Squamous cell carcinoma

Squa­mous cell car­ci­no­ma is the second most com­mon form of non-mela­n­o­ma skin can­cer after basal cell car­ci­no­ma. It ari­ses from the hor­ny cells of the epi­der­mis, grows slow­ly and, if left unt­rea­ted, can inva­de deeper lay­ers and in rare cases form metastases.

Cau­ses

The main cau­se is UV expo­sure accu­mu­la­ted over deca­des. The usu­al pre­cur­sor is acti­nic kera­to­sis. Peo­p­le with a fair skin type, exten­si­ve time out­doors, long-term sun­bed use and pati­ents on per­ma­nent immu­no­sup­pres­si­on, for exam­p­le after organ trans­plan­ta­ti­on, car­ry an increased risk.

Sym­ptoms

Typi­cal is a firm, rough nodu­le or a kera­to­tic area that does not heal, bleeds easi­ly and is cover­ed with crusts. Pre­fer­red sites are the face, ears, lower lip, scalp and backs of the hands. Any skin chan­ge that fails to heal over seve­ral weeks should be asses­sed by a doctor.

Tre­at­ment

The dia­gno­sis is con­firm­ed by a tis­sue sam­ple. The stan­dard is com­ple­te sur­gi­cal rem­oval with a safe­ty mar­gin and his­to­lo­gi­cal con­trol of the mar­gins. When trea­ted ear­ly the pro­gno­sis is very good. After the­ra­py, regu­lar fol­low-up and con­sis­tent sun pro­tec­tion are important, as the risk of fur­ther tumours remains increased.

Rela­ted tre­at­ment at Swiss Der­ma Cli­nic: Skin can­cer tre­at­ment in Zurich