Squamous cell carcinoma, what is it and how is it treated?
Known as squamous cell carcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma, it usually affects people over the age of 50.
Squamous cell carcinoma affects about two out of ten people with skin cancer. It is a tumor that appears in areas of the body most exposed to the sun, such as the face, ears, lips, hands or other parts such as the tongue or the mucosa of the mouth. In the same way, it is possible that this carcinoma often appears in the areas of the skin where a scar is present. Other times it can also develop from an actinic keratosis.
This type of tumor leads to uncontrolled growth of abnormal and scaly cells in the skin (epidermis), appearing as a red area with a scaly surface. Sometimes such scales can be confused with those of psoriasis. As it grows, the tumor can become nodular, hard, with a rough surface. Eventually, when the cancer has developed, you will usually notice an open wound within which the underlying tissue continues to grow.
What are the risk factors?
The main risk factor of squamous cell carcinoma is related to UV exposure, often occurring in people aged over 50 years.
There are also other risk factors such as:
- Having light skin and eyes.
- Have had multiple sunburns of a severe nature during the first years of life.
- Being subjected to many X-rays in the course of life.
- Be over 45 years old.
- Having an actinic keratosis. This skin lesion has a precancerous character and even if it is not frequent, it can sometimes turn into a squamous cell carcinoma.
What is the treatment?
First of all we must say that it is a type of cancer with a high rate of healing if discovered in time. Treatment will always depend on the size of the tumor and the area in which it has developed. In that case, we will use one of these techniques:
- Excision. Through surgery, the tumor is removed using sutures to recompose the skin.
- Mohs surgical technique. This technique is particularly useful for squamous cell carcinomas of more than 2 cm and well defined edges. The cure rate is very high.
- Electrodessication and curettage. It is a method used for the treatment of small carcinomas.
When the tumor is large and is located in an area where it is difficult to intervene through the surgeon, radiation therapy will be used instead.
When squamous cell carcinoma is at an early stage or if the tumor is not very large, cryosurgery can be used.
Whatever therapy is used, it will not be necessary to forget that most of the tumors can be treated if they are prevented or treated in time. For this reason it is important to consult a doctor in case of any kind of doubt.
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