Sunday, May 1, 2011

Squamous-cell carcinoma

Squamous-cell carcinoma (SCC) is a carcinomatous cancer occurring in multiple organs.  Despite the common name, these are unique cancers with large differences in manifestation and prognosis. 
Squamous-cell carcinoma is the second-most common cancer of the skin (after basal-cell carcinoma but more common than melanoma). It usually occurs in areas exposed to the sun. Sunlight exposure and immunosuppression are risk factors for SCC of the skin with chronic sun exposure being the strongest environmental risk factor.The risk of metastasis is low, but is much higher than basal-cell carcinoma. Squamous-cell cancers of the lip and ears have high metastatic and recurrence rate (20 to 50%). Squamous-cell cancers of the skin in individuals on immunotherapy or having lymphoproliferative disorders (leukemias) are much more aggressive, regardless of their location.

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