Squamous Cell Carcinoma: An Update on Diagnosis and Treatment

Abstract

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) accounts for most nonmelanoma skin cancer–related metastatic disease and deaths. Histopathology and correct surgical excision remain the gold standard for the diagnosis and treatment of SCC; however, new diagnostic imaging techniques such as dermoscopy and reflectance confocal microscopy have increased the diagnostic accuracy in terms of early recognition, better differential diagnosis, more precise selection of areas to biopsy, and noninvasive monitoring of treatments. The therapeutic intervention in patients with severe actinic damage and multiple in situ/low-risk SCC, and the development of innovative treatments such as epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors and immune checkpoint inhibitors for locally advanced and metastatic SCC, are improving considerably the approach to the disease. This review summarizes the up-to-date knowledge in the field of detection, treatment, and monitoring of cutaneous SCC.

Keywords

• Bowen disease
• squamous cell carcinoma
• actinic keratosis
• cancerization field
• dermoscopy
• confocal microscopy