{
  "schema_version": 1,
  "kind": "condition",
  "id": "squamous-cell-carcinoma-skin",
  "name": "Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Skin",
  "category": "chronic",
  "sources": "Basal Cell Carcinoma - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482439/ · ICPC-3 (WONCA International Classification of Primary Care, 3rd edition) class SD25.03 - condition scope only, no dose · No dose - referral pathway, no medicine given in primary care · Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf - disease-level clinical article (squamous-cell-carcinoma-skin-full.txt)",
  "review_status": "reviewed",
  "verified_against": "No dose - referral pathway, no medicine given in primary care · Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf - disease-level clinical article (squamous-cell-carcinoma-skin-full.txt)",
  "verified_date": "2026-08",
  "treatments": [
    {
      "id": 1724,
      "generic": "No drug therapy in primary care (Referral & Advice)",
      "line": 1,
      "is_adjunct": false,
      "form": null,
      "strength_mg": null,
      "adult_dose": "A skin malignancy of sun-exposed areas that can arise from actinic keratosis, presenting as a scaly, crusted, or ulcerated nodule; it has higher spread potential than basal cell carcinoma, so the GP recognises the lesion and refers promptly for biopsy and excision.",
      "adult_duration": "Refer, with advice",
      "dose_source": "No dose - referral pathway, no medicine given in primary care",
      "rationale": "A skin malignancy of sun-exposed areas that can arise from actinic keratosis, presenting as a scaly, crusted, or ulcerated nodule; it has higher spread potential than basal cell carcinoma, so the GP recognises the lesion and refers promptly for biopsy and excision.",
      "cautions": [
        "No medicine is prescribed for this in primary care - this entry is for recognition and referral. Anything given is decided by the service it is referred to.",
        "Solid organ transplant recipients on immunosuppressive therapy carry a 65- to 250-fold higher risk of squamous cell carcinoma than the general population.",
        "Immunosuppressed patients with aggressive squamous cell carcinoma need skin surveillance every 2 to 3 months for the first 2 years, then every 6 to 12 months.",
        "A lesion on the lip, ear, central face (eyelid, nose, nasolabial fold), genitalia, hands, feet or nail unit is very high risk whatever its size or appearance.",
        "Any squamous cell carcinoma of the head or neck is high risk no matter how small it is.",
        "Patients taking BRAF inhibitors, vismodegib, voriconazole or immunosuppressive agents are at increased risk of developing squamous cell carcinoma.",
        "Non-surgical treatments carry higher recurrence rates and give no histological confirmation that the tumour has been cleared.",
        "Palpable lymphadenopathy calls for fine-needle aspiration or biopsy of the node, not observation.",
        "Annual full-body skin examination is advised for adults generally, and more often for anyone with significant risk factors.",
        "RED FLAG - A rapidly growing, hardened, or ulcerating skin lesion, a lesion arising in a chronic wound or burn scar, or regional lymph node enlargement suggesting spread."
      ],
      "peds_mgkg_low": null,
      "peds_mgkg_high": null,
      "peds_max_mg": null,
      "peds_basis": null,
      "peds_unit": null,
      "peds_note": "Children follow the same pathway: recognise and refer. No primary-care medicine is implied.",
      "peds_min_weight_kg": null,
      "peds_max_weight_kg": null,
      "peds_age_min_months": null,
      "peds_age_max_months": null,
      "peds_age_bands": null,
      "peds_doses": null,
      "brands": [],
      "condition_id": "squamous-cell-carcinoma-skin"
    }
  ]
}