Squamous Cell Carinoma

Hi.  I am a 30 year old female recently diagnosed with Squamous Cell Skin cancer on my nose.  In the biopsy, the margins were not clear so I must have surgery to remove it again.  In the last week where the Biopsy was done, the skin is raised again and there are no signs that the biopsy was done.  My question is how agressive is this type of cancer and what are the chances that it will be cured with just a surgical removal?  I am very concerned because it appears to be pretty quickly growning.  

Thanks for you assistance and any information you can give.

Ashley

[Fernando Roque, MD]

Hi. Squamous cell skin cancer  is divided into high risk and low risk categories depending on the presence of certain factors.  High risk lesions generally are more aggressive and have a greater chance of recurrence.  For a lesion located in the nose, high risk would mean the following:

1. greater than or equal to 6 cubic mm in size
2. poorly defined borders
3. moderately or poorly differentiated histology
4. adenoid, adenosquamous, or desmoplastic histologic subtype
5. greater than or equal to 4 mm depth of lesion
6. with perineural or vascular involvement

If your cancer has any of the above characteristics, it needs to be treated more aggressively using special surgical techniques such as Moh's procedure, with the possible addition of radiotherapy. With Moh's procedure (when done properly), it may be possible to achieve cure rates of at least 90% for high risk lesions.

[ashlyhb]

Thanks for your comments.  I do not know about how deep the lesion went as when they did the first biopsy, the margins were not clear.  But, it does have an irregular border and has grown back within 2 weeks after the first biopsy to be raised and bigger than the lesion was before the first biopsy.  Hopefully all will go well for the next surgery.

Thanks again
Ashley