What should you know about early squamous cell skin cancer?

This cancer begins in squamous cells, which form much of the outer skin. Early disease is generally confined to the area where it began, but a clinician still checks its size, depth, edges, and exact location. A biopsy confirms the diagnosis and helps a specialist plan care. A scaly patch, sore, or thickened growth can have several causes, so a skin change alone does not establish cancer.

Take the biopsy report and any photographs of the area to your dermatology or oncology visit. Treatment may involve removing the tumour with a procedure, while radiotherapy or immunotherapy can be considered in particular situations. The choice depends on the tumour’s features, whether it has returned, and your general health. Protect the treated skin as advised and keep follow-up appointments so healing and new changes can be checked.

Arrange a clinical assessment for a sore that does not heal, a crust that repeatedly returns, bleeding with minor contact, or a growth that changes in shape or texture. Seek prompt medical help for persistent bleeding, rapidly increasing swelling, severe pain, or signs of infection such as spreading redness and fever.

Ask where the tumour is located in the skin, what the biopsy says about its depth and edges, which treatment is being recommended, how the area may look while healing, and how often your skin should be examined afterward.