Cutaneous Squamous-Cell Carcinoma

Nonmelanoma skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States, with over 1.3 million cases expected to occur in the year 2001. Approximately 80 percent of nonmelanoma skin cancers are basal-cell carcinomas, and 20 percent are squamous-cell carcinomas.1 Squamous-cell carcinoma is the second most common cancer among whites.2 Unlike almost all basal-cell carcinomas, cutaneous squamous-cell carcinomas are associated with a substantial risk of metastasis.IncidenceIn 1994 in the United States, the lifetime risk of squamous-cell carcinoma was 9 to 14 percent among men and 4 to 9 percent among women.3 Although it is known that this neoplasm . . .