Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Understanding Your Treatment Options

Many people know about one particularly deadly form of skin cancer: melanoma. However, skin cancer can take other forms as well, and it’s equally important to remove the abnormal cells before they can spread. Fortunately, if you have squamous cell carcinoma, you have multiple options for getting rid of it. 

At our office in Chevy Chase, Maryland, Ali Hendi, MD, and Kristina Lim, DO, help identify the best treatment option for your specific skin cancer growth. We have extensive experience working with people throughout the greater Washington, DC, area, northern Virginia, and the eastern shore of Maryland to eliminate squamous cell carcinoma. 

Diagnosing and treating squamous cell carcinoma 

This type of skin cancer usually develops in areas that get a lot of sun, such as your face, hands, neck, and ears. Some signs you might have squamous cell carcinoma include:

• A sore that doesn’t heal
• A firm bump (nodule)
• A scaly or rough patch
• A growth that’s pitted in the middle

If any of this sounds familiar, come see our team. At our office, we perform a biopsy to figure out if cancerous cells are behind your skin change. We numb the area and surgically remove some or all of the abnormal skin. We then send it to the lab for analysis. 

If the biopsied sample comes back positive for squamous cell carcinoma, we develop a personalized treatment plan.

Finding the right treatment option for you

With a combination of your lab results and a physical exam, we help identify the most effective but minimally invasive way to eliminate the cancerous cells. What we suggest depends on how early we catch it. Early-stage treatments don’t require as much as later-stage treatments. 

If we catch the cancer early, we might recommend treatment such as:

• Freezing the cells (cryotherapy)
• Laser surgery
• A chemical peel
• Anti-cancer medication you apply topically
• Curettage and desiccation (electrosurgery)
• Wide local excision

If the cancerous cells seem to have spread or are at high risk of coming back, we recommend Mohs surgery. This is a multi-step treatment, but we perform it all in one day at our office. 

During Mohs surgery, we remove the visible portion of the cancerous cells along with a thin layer of your surrounding tissue. Then we take that sample and examine it under a microscope. This allows us to see the edges of the sample. 

If we can see healthy tissue all the way around, your Mohs surgery is complete. If we detect cancer at the edge of the tissue, we take another sample and reevaluate. We continue this process until we can confirm we’ve removed all the cancerous cells. Then, we will decide on the favored reconstructive repair to give you the best-looking scar. 

You have multiple options for removing squamous cell carcinoma, and we’ll help you find the right one for your specific skin. If you think you might have skin cancer, call our office at 301-812-4591 or book your appointment online today.