Skin Malignancies- Oncology Flashcards
What does BCC stand for?
Basal cell carcinoma
What is the histology (cell structure) of a BCC
it invades the basement membrane.
What different types of skin cancer are there?
BCC
SCC = squamous cell carcinoma and SCC in situ
Melanoma
Merkel Cell Carcinoma
Skin cancer occurs more in which gender group?
Males - 416Men:176Women
for SCC twice as many deaths in males than females
Which cancer has the highest mortality rate.
BCC more common and frequent however SCC has higher death rate.
What are the common sites for skin cancers?
75% head and neck
20% extremeties
5% trunk
Outcomes?
1/3 of patients treated for one BCC or SCC will have a new skin cancer treated within 2 years
Cutaneous SCC more lethal than BCC
BCC:SCC = 3:1
What are causes of skin cancer?
Solar exposure (UVA and UVB)
Immunosuppression (organ transplant, CLL) - make person more vulnerable to the disease/ sun
Exposure to ionising radiation therapy - areas are more prone to solar exposure
Arsenic
Genetic disorders (Gorlin’s syndrome, albinism, xeroderma pigmentosa) - if irradiating someonw with Gorlins it causes increased tumour growth
Marjolin’s ulcer type scar cancer
Define the characteristics of a BCC
Very slow growing and rarely metastise (less than 1% chance of metastisis to lymph nodes)
Develops over a length of time
Consists of different basal sutypes.
What are the different BCC sub types
- Nodular/rodent ulcer - invades basement membrane
- Superficial subtype
- Morpheic (sclerosing)- hard to delinate edges as it appears quite pearlescent
- Infiltrative similar looking to morpheic
- Pigmented = bluey/black look similar to melanoma
Define the characteristics of a SCC
High portenial to spread to nodes and nerves.
Has pericartilageous spread - often spreads to the nose
Very fast growing
Has been associated with viral infections
Has high perineural spread - more noticeable in head and neck region due to large nerve supply
Distant metastisis
Consists of various subtypes.
What are the subtypes of SCC
Squamous subtypes
•Bowen’s disease pre-invasive SCC in situ-Involving the penis it is called erythroplasia of Queyrat
- Verrucous
- Spindle cell variant
What effect does body habitus have on diagnosis?
Effects how early a pathology is diagnosed - if large patient with lots of fat - tumour is often hard to notice.
Define characteristics of melanoma
4th most common cancer (excluding NMSC)
There is a high death rate and it is more common in younger indivuals (15-44)
It is quite a vascular disease and thus tumours are prone to bleeding - DISEASE IS RICH IN BLOOD SUPPLY
There is a high risk of developing metastatic nodal disease
What are subtypes of melanoma?
Superfical spreading - most common - spreads through the epthelium
Lentigo Maligna - aka Hutchinson’s freckle, most common in the elderly and present on hands, face & H/N region
Acral lentiginous melanomas - most common in darker skinned people
Mucosal melanoma- very uncommon
Nodular melanoma
