Prognostic Factors of Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Below is a brief description of the prognostic factors involved with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, ie. SCC of the skin.

Site

The actual site of the SCC provides much prognostic information, most importantly that SCCs from sites such as the ear, lip and sole have an increased rate of metastasis.

Size

The physical size of the tumour is also related to prognosis, generally speaking the larger the tumour the poorer the prognosis.

Invasion

If the SCC is seen to be invasive this reflects a poorer prognosis. The actual depth of invasion is again prognostic, ie. the deeper the invasion, the poorer the prognosis.

Tumour differentiation

Histologically SCCs are graded for their differentiation with them being either well, moderately or poorly differentiated. The poorer the tumour differentiation, the poorer the prognosis.

Other

There are many other factors which can affect the prognosis of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma including immune status of the patient, HPV infection status, age and genetic predisposition.

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