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Therapeutics in Dermatology
A reference textbook in dermatology

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma

2 July 2012, by GUILLOT B. & RENAUD-VILMER C. & BASSET-SEGUIN N.

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) or epidermoid carcinoma accounts for approximately one third of cutaneous carcinoma. The incidence of SCC in France is 10 to 20 per 100 000 inhabitants in men and 5 to 10 per 100 000 inhabitants in women. It tends to arise from pre-malignant actinic keratosis or Bowen’s disease lesions. Bowen’s disease is considered as squamous cell carcinoma in situ. A biopsy is essential to confirm the clinical suspicion that the lesion is Bowen’s disease. The most frequent etiological factor is the sun, particularly chronic exposure to the sun, which explains why lesions are most frequently observed in sun-exposed areas in persons over 60 years of age and in subjects whose professions cause them to be extensively exposed to the sun (farmers, seamen, construction workers). Subjects with a light phototype are the most at risk. The second carcinogen is a virus, i.e. Human PapillomaVirus (HPV), whose oncogenes are found in most ano-genital mucosal carcinoma (not treated in this chapter) and in some cutaneous carcinoma (digital), particularly in immunosuppressed subjects [1].

There are numerous guidelines on the management of SCC [2, 3, 4] and the French Society of Dermatology recently published a guide on the clinical management and treatment of SCC [5].

1 - LINK

EADV leaflet published in 2019, produced by the EADV Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer Task Force:

- Squamous cell carcinoma of the skin

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