Squamous Cell Cancer: Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Cancerous diseases are always life-threatening, even though medical science is improving. For example, squamous cell cancer or squamous cell carcinoma is a dangerous type of cancer. It originates in the squamous cells, which are mostly found in the outermost layer of your skin. While this condition might not be ultimately life-threatening, this cancer propagates rapidly.

Are you wondering about the symptoms and treatment procedures for squamous cell cancer? Then, keep reading this article to find out all about it!

As its name suggests, squamous cell cancer develops from the squamous cells. These are thin, flat cells in the outermost layer of your skin. These cells are also present in other organs, including the lungs, digestive tract, mucous membranes, and urinary tract. In addition, these are often found in the areas damaged by the sun's UV rays, including the head, chest, neck, ears, upper back, lips, arms, legs, and hands.

The squamous cell cancer on the skin, starts spreading from the tissues, bones, and nearby lymph nodes. These areas are usually difficult to treat. However, this cancer is curable if diagnosed in the early stages. When your skin is exposed to UV rays from sun or tanning beds can result in this cancer.

While it is difficult to predict who may develop squamous cell cancer, medical history records state that people over 50 years of age are most likely to get this cancer. Furthermore, men are more prone to getting this cancer than women in general. Apart from that, highly fair-skinned people, particularly those with sun-sensitive conditions such as xeroderma pigmentosum, are also at a higher risk of getting this cancer.

There can be different types of squamous cell skin cancer. Medical researchers have differentiated these types based on the unique characteristics of the cancerous cells. A pathologist needs to examine a tissue sample underneath a microscope for determining the type of cancer a patient has. The primary types of this cancer are listed below.

• Intraepidermal SCC: This is a simple form of keratinocyte cancer, starting from the squamous cells. 
• Adenoid/pseudo glandular SCC: This is the most common type of skin cancer. The sun-exposed skin of the head and neck region are primarily at risk. However, there are also cases in the oral cavity and nasopharynx areas.
• Large cell non-keratinising SCC: This type of cancer is common in the tonsils and base of the tongue. The cancer cells do not undergo conversion to keratin or keratinous tissue.
• Large cell keratinising SCC: Sheets and nests of cells with cytoplasm, large pleomorphic nuclei and inconspicuous nucleoli mainly characterise this type of cancer.
• Lymphoepithelial carcinoma: is a type of tumour diagnosed in the nasopharynx. A variety of non-nasopharyngeal sites have also described this type of cancer.
• Papillary thyroid carcinoma: Characterised by a butterfly-shaped gland at the base of the neck, this type of cancer occurs because of a combination of genetic and environmental factors.
• Papillary SCC: An uncommon variant of skin cancer, it mainly occurs in the upper aerodigestive tract. It is more likely to affect older males and is located mostly around the larynx, oropharynx, and sinonasal tract.
• Verrucous SCC: Another uncommon variant, it is most likely to affect the oral cavity, larynx, genitals, oesophagus, and skin. The head and neck regions are highly at risk of this cancer.
• Spindle cell SCC: is a biphasic tumour mainly composed of squamous cell epithelial and spindle cell mesenchymal components.

Now that you have an idea about the various types of this squamous cell cancer, you must be curious to learn about its symptoms. While usually, its signs are visible on sun-exposed skin, it can also be seen in other body parts. The following list discusses the symptoms of this cancer.

• Scaly and reddish patch of skin
• New sore on an old scar or ulcer
• A horn-shaped or dome-shaped growth
• Rough, scaly patch on your lips evolving from an open sore
• A firm, red nodule
• A wart-like growth

If you are curious to know the causes of squamous cell skin cancer, an essential notion remains with its origin in the mutations occurring in the squamous cell DNA. These changes result in abnormal cells multiplying and increasing out of control. While most cancer cases occur due to exposure to UV radiation from sunlight or indoor tanning beds, there can also be some other reasons causing this cancer. 

• Tobacco: Previous case histories have shown higher possibilities of this cancer for people who smoke. Notably, they can get this cancer on their lips. In addition, it is one of the primary risk factors for developing lung squamous cell cancer.
• Genetics: Genes and family medical history can also play a vital part in causing this type of cancer in individuals. For instance, a study from medical researchers in 2015 showed that people with a family history of squamous cell cancer are four times more likely to develop it than those who do not have this type of family history.
• Burns and sores: If you have severe burn scars, sores or ulcers in your skin, you have a higher chance of developing this cancer than the others.
• Chemicals: Certain chemicals such as coal tar, petroleum products, paraffin, and arsenic can be harmful, and exposure to these can cause this type of cancer.
• Radiation exposure: If you undergo radiation therapy for some other diseases, your risk of developing this type of cancer increases. Particularly the area of your body that received radiation has a higher chance of getting this cancer.
• Immunosuppression: With this process, one can reduce the activation or efficacy of the immune system. However, this process can again contribute to developing squamous cell cancer. Organ transplant recipients, for instance, have 65-250 times higher risks of developing this cancer than normal individuals.

The treatment of squamous cell cancer varies from one patient to another, depending on age, overall health condition, location, extent and severity of cancer. However, if diagnosed early, the following treatment procedures are primarily undertaken in healthcare centres.

1. Systemic Drugs

There are several FDA-approved systematic drugs for the treatment of squamous cell cancer. Commonly, these include cemiplimab-rwlc (Libtayo) and pembrolizumab (Keytruda). These drugs are usually aggressive and affect your entire body to fight against the cancer cells.

2. Mohs Micrographic Surgery

In such surgeries, doctors use scalpels to remove abnormal skin from your body and its surrounding tissues. They then examine the sample tissue under a microscope. If they find cancer cells in the sample, they repeat the same process until no more cancer cells are present in the sample.

3. Electrosurgery

This type of surgery, also called electrodesiccation and curettage, requires the doctors to scrape cancer and burn the skin. This way, they can kill the cancer cells. They can do it more than once to remove all the cancer cells from the body altogether.

4. Excisional Surgery

For this type of surgery, doctors attempt to remove the cancer cells. During this process, they also remove a thin layer of healthy skin from the surrounding area to make sure that the cancer cells are completely removed. They then stitch the skin to close the wound. Finally, they send this sample to the laboratory to ensure that the cancer cells are no longer present in the body.

5. Cryosurgery

In this type of surgery, doctors use liquid nitrogen to freeze and destroy the cancerous tissues. Then, they repeat the process multiple times as long as all the cancerous cells are not completely removed.

6. Photodynamic Therapy

The doctors typically aim at applying a photosensitising substance to the cancerous areas. Then, after about 1-3 hours, the medicated regions of the body are exposed to intense light for a long time. This process helps activate the medication to kill the abnormal cells within the body.

7. Radiation Therapy

This therapy uses high energy X-rays to kill cancer cells with the help of external machinery. This machine aims at sending rays to the affected area of the body. Radiation therapy can continue for several weeks until all the cancerous cells are completely dead.

Now that you know all about treating squamous cell skin cancer, you might be wondering if there are ways to avoid this cancer. According to medical researchers, individuals can prevent most squamous cell cancer with the following measures.

• Avoid direct exposure to sunlight, and try to go out during early morning or evening when the sun rays are not at their strongest.
• Wear sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30 to protect your skin from sun rays whenever you go out.
• Wearing dark and tightly woven clothing and sunglasses can also protect your skin and eyes from direct sun and UV rays.
• Avoid going for indoor tanning beds if you wish to avoid this type of cancer.
• Check your skin conditions regularly and visit the dermatologist if you find even slight inconveniences.