If you have been diagnosed with squamous cell skin cancer, or think you have it, please call: 734-936-4068. 

Healthcare professionals, please contact our M-LINE service: 800-962-3555.

Squamous cell carcinoma often affects the head, neck, trunk, arms, and legs. But it can be any place on the body where there is skin. This includes inside the mouth, on the genitals, and near the anus. Signs of squamous cell carcinoma include any:

• Firm bump that does not go away. It is often on sun-exposed skin.
• Patch of skin that feels scaly, bleeds, or develops a crust. The patch may get bigger over a period of months and form a sore.
• Skin growth that looks like a wart
• Sore that does not heal. It may appear in a scar or on skin that has ongoing problems.
• An area of thickened skin on the lower lip, especially if you smoke or use chewing tobacco or your lips are often exposed to the sun and wind.

If your skin cancer is biopsy-confirmed, your dermatologist will recommend the treatment options best suited to your skin cancer type based on the location, size, and features noted on the biopsy specimen. Most skin cancer treatment is done on an outpatient basis, typically by one of the following three methods:

• Mohs micrographic surgery: For many non-melanoma skin cancers, such as basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, the preferred treatment option is Mohs surgery. In this precise procedure, a small disc of tissue is removed around the skin cancer and prepared for immediate microscopic evaluation. The Mohs surgeon checks all of the edges of what was removed for cancer cells, while the patient waits. Once the edges are cancer-free, the wound is repaired. The goal of Mohs surgery is to provide a high cure rate and to remove the cancer while leaving as much normal, healthy skin behind as possible.
• Wide-local excision:The doctor excises (surgically removes) the entire skin cancer together with a safe border of surrounding normal skin.
• Electrodessication and Curettage (ED&C): For superficial non-melanoma skin cancers, ED&C provides high cure rates with minimal scarring. Because cancer cells scrape away more easily than normal tissue, a trained dermatologist can scrape away the cancerous cells using a tool called a curette and leave only normal skin behind.