What are the treatment options for squamous cell skin cancer?

The plan depends on the lesion's size, depth, position, borders, and risk of returning or spreading. Your clinician may examine nearby lymph nodes and recommend a biopsy or imaging when needed. Treatment also takes account of previous skin cancers, your general health, and whether preserving appearance or function is especially important at that site.

Tumour removal surgery removes the cancer with a margin of surrounding skin; some lesions need a reconstruction to close the area. Radiotherapy may be used when surgery is unsuitable, when the tumour has features that raise concern, or when cancer remains in a treated area. Immunotherapy may be considered for advanced disease when local treatment cannot control it.

Do not pick, cauterise, or apply unprescribed products to a changing sore. Keep the area protected and tell your clinician about bleeding, pain, rapid growth, numbness, or a sore that does not heal. After treatment, attend skin checks and report a new lump or a wound that does not settle.

Explore [Radiotherapy](/treatments/radiation-oncology/radiotherapy/), [Tumour Removal Surgery](/treatments/surgical-oncology/tumour-removal-surgery/), and [Immunotherapy](/treatments/systemic-therapy/immunotherapy/) for more detail.

Arrange prompt review for a lesion that bleeds repeatedly, grows quickly, becomes painful, develops numbness, or changes despite basic wound care. Seek urgent help for heavy bleeding that does not stop with firm pressure, rapidly spreading redness with fever, or new weakness affecting an area near the eye, mouth, or a major nerve.

How deep is the cancer and are its edges clear? Is surgery the most suitable first step? Would I need reconstruction or radiotherapy? Has the cancer reached a lymph node or another area? If immunotherapy is discussed, what symptoms should I report during treatment?