The symptoms of squamous cell carcinoma

Recognizing a squamous cell carcinoma in its early stages can be difficult, especially for the layperson. It usually appears first as a grayish-yellowish spot, which is often horny. Alternatively, a squamous cell carcinoma can also look like a small open wound that does not heal.

These areas may feel hardened or knotty due to the tendency to keratinize. A typical feature of squamous cell carcinoma is its rapid growth: if an affected person notices that the suspicious skin area changes or enlarges within weeks, this may be an indication of squamous cell carcinoma. In addition, these tumors often have an increased tendency to bleed because they are supplied by numerous blood vessels. If the area begins to bleed unusually easily, the affected person should also become aware of this and consult a dermatologist as soon as possible.

The diagnosis

A dermatologist should always be consulted if there is a suspicious skin area that could be a squamous cell carcinoma. This doctor can usually already express a suspicion through experience and practice, which is the trigger for the conspicuous area. To confirm the suspicion, a biopsy is usually taken, i.e. a sample from the affected skin tissue. This tissue sample is then microscopically examined in the laboratory. If the tissue shows the corresponding characteristics of squamous cell carcinoma, the diagnosis is considered confirmed.

The treatment

The treatment of squamous cell carcinoma is primarily curative, i.e. cure-oriented. Due to the superficial growth on the skin, the ulcer can usually be removed without problems in an outpatient procedure. The excised material is then usually sent to a laboratory to ensure that it was indeed the suspected squamous cell carcinoma.

If surgical removal is not possible, a number of other methods can be used to destroy the tumor tissue. These include mechanical methods such as freezing or curettage (scraping), which can be performed under local anesthesia. Chemotherapeutic agents applied locally as ointments or creams can also be used.In larger centers, photodynamic therapy is sometimes used: In this method, the region to be treated is made photosensitive with an ointment and then irradiated with specific light (harmless to the rest of the body).

The treating dermatologist decides which therapy option is appropriate in each individual case. The articles may be of interest to you:

Treatment of skin cancer

Radiation is a common form of therapy for cancer, but is rarely used for squamous cell carcinoma. It is one of the various treatment options that can be considered if surgical removal is not possible without complications for any reason.

The tumor can then be irradiated specifically to prevent the cancer cells located there from growing and thus destroy the tumor. Radiation is also sometimes used as a therapy in cases where squamous cell carcinoma has spread. This is usually done in combination with a chemotherapeutic agent.

In medicine, metastasis is the spreading of cancer cells to other areas and organs of the body, where they settle and cause daughter tumors (metastases). By definition, squamous cell carcinoma is a malignant tumor and can therefore theoretically metastasize. In reality, however, a spread of squamous cell carcinoma is rare and can be observed very late in the course of the disease. This may be surprising, since this type of cancer is characterized by rapid growth in size – but squamous cell carcinoma usually grows outwards and on the skin surface without penetrating into the depths of the tissue or vascular structures.