Squamous cell carcinoma.

One form of benign tumor of the skin is squamous cell papilloma. This tumor originates from the flat skin epithelium. The tumor develops mainly in people older than sixty - seventy years. In young people, squamous cell papilloma can develop on the site permanently prone to trauma. Tumor growth is slow.

Externally, the papilloma looks like a single warty formation. Rising above the level of the skin, the papilloma is located on a wide base or thin stem. The size ranges from three millimeters to one and a half to two centimeters. Trauma of the tumor is accompanied by a pronounced inflammatory reaction. Frequent traumatization of the papilloma can lead to malignant degeneration, as a result of which squamous cell carcinoma develops.

Among all cancerous pathologies of the skin, the first place in the frequency of occurrence belongs to the basal cell, the second to the squamous cell carcinoma.

Squamous cell carcinoma initially develops in the cells of the epidermis layer (thorny layer).

Modern medical research has established a reliable relationship between the development of malignant skin tumors and the human papillomavirus. As a result, scientists have suggested that the development of the tumor is caused by a complex action of physical, chemical factors and features of human immune regulation (controlled genetically).

In addition to chronic trauma to the papilloma, squamous cell carcinoma develops as a result of skin keratosis (senile or sunny), pigment xeroderma, dermatitis (caused by radiation) and chronic inflammation of the skin. Provoke the development of cancer burns and skin trauma.

Pathogenetically squamous cell carcinoma of the skin is represented by infiltrating growth of cells of the spiky skin layer. Due to malignant (uncontrolled) multiplication of cells, their atypia and disorder of location in the tissue are characteristic. There are two types of squamous cell carcinoma of the skin: keratinizing and non-keratinizing. The first is characterized by the retention of atypical cells for keratinization, which is manifested by horny "pearls" in the thickness of the skin. The second type of cancer is more malignant, atypical cells completely lose the ability to coronate.

The characteristic localization of squamous cell carcinoma is the red border of the lips (often the lower one), the external genitalia, the perianal region.

Squamous cell carcinoma, in contrast to papilloma, is characterized by rapid growth, and also accompanied by inflammation of surrounding tissues.

Squamous cell carcinoma can be represented by several morphological forms: ulcerative, nodular and plaque-like.

For the ulcerative form characterized by undermined margins, the presence of bloody exudate in the crater of a ulcerative defect. The cancer node looks like a cauliflower or a mushroom on a broad base. The surface of the node is large-hummocky, the color of the tumor can vary from brown to bright red.

The plaque-like tumor, as a rule, is bleeding, small-hulled, rapidly expanding.

When metastasizing this form of cancer, regional lymph nodes increase in size, become dense, but remain painless and retain mobility. In later stages, they are soldered to the skin and destroyed, with ulceration on the surface.

For diagnostic purposes, histological and cytological examination of scrapings from the surface of pathological formation is used.

As a treatment for small tumors, use: curettage, cryodestruction and electrocoagulation. In the case of larger formations, a surgical operation is performed , during which all affected areas of the skin are excised.