Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Squamous cell carcinoma: The skin cancer is an invasive tumor with
metastatic
potential. It may be caused by overexposure to ultraviolet rays,
X - ray therapy,
chronic skin irritation and inflammation, ingestion of herbicides containing
arsenic, and
exposure to local carcinogens such as tar, and oil. Risk factors
include being white
male, and over age 60. Those who work outdoors and are expose to
the sun, those
who have a pre malignant lesion. Squamous cell carcinoma commonly
develops on
sun damaged areas of the skin.
Symptoms:
A nodule growing on a firm indurated base, there may be some ulceration
at the lesion
site ( if carcinoma develops in normal skin )
A pre malignant, preexisting lesion may be inflamed and indurated.
Metastasis to
regional lymph nodes may cause pain, malaise, fatigue, weakness, and anorexia
Diagnostic test - Excisional biopsy of the lesion confirms the diagnosis
Treatment:
Depending on the lesion, treatment may consist of wide surgical excision
or
electrodesiccation and curettage.
Radiation therapy ( usually used for older or debilitated patients)
Moh's surgery also may be indicated.
* Regular follow up with your doctor is important
Call your doctor if you have any of the above symptoms.
CancerTreatments:
Cancer treatments seek to destroy malignant cells while sparing normal
ones, to
reduce pain, and to induce cure or remission. A single primary treatment
or a
combination of treatments may be used. These treatments can provide
local and
systemic therapy and offer doctors the advantage of attacking cancer cells
with
several mechanisms. They include:
* Chemotherapy - which interrupts malignant cells life cycles, inhibiting
or destroying
their ability to divide
* Radiation - which also inhibits cell division by impairing DNA synthesis
and causing
cell membrane lysis. Radiation can be used as a primary treatment
or as an adjunctive
procedure intended to kill cancer cells that may have survived other treatments.
* Biotherapy ( immunotherapy ), which employs biological response modifiers
that
act on malignant cells by inhibiting division and by enhancing the body's
immune
responses to such cells.
* Bone marrow transplantation, which is used to replace or replenish the
bone
marrow of patients with leukemia or multiple myeloma
* Surgery, which removes tumors or reduces their size. Surgery enables
other
treatments because there are fewer malignant cells to combat.
* Several new cancer treatments are emerging. surgical treatments
using lasers and
intraoperative radiation can effectively remove tumors or reduce their
size at the time
of initial surgery and staging. Hyperthermia - the use of heat to
destroy cancer cells is
being investigated as a single modality and in combination with radiation
and
chemotherapy.
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