Basal Cell Carcinoma Nodule

Superficial Spreading Basal Cell Carcinoma

Superficial Spreading Basal Cell Carcinoma

Nodular Basal Cell Carcinoma

Sclerosing Pigmented Basal Cell Carcinoma

Sclerosing Pigmented Basal Cell Carcinoma

• is the most common type of skin cancer
• grows and destroys surrounding skin (locally invasive)
• rarely spreads systemically (metastasize)
• is most common on parts of the skin intermittently exposed to large amounts of sunlight:
• upper back
• shoulders
• chest
• along embryonal fusion planes around the nose, ears, and inner canthus. Embryonal fusion plane cancers are not sun-related, and presumably are caused by residual cellular instability at that site.

• manifests most commonly as a translucent nodule or plaque on the skin, with prominent telangiectatic vessels; or, later, an ulcer with a raised rolled edge
• may present as well-circumscribed, scaly, red plaques on the trunk or extremities
• less commonly, can be of the sclerosing variant, resembling a white fibrotic scar; is often diagnosed only when very large
• basal cell carcinomas can be pigmented in darker skinned individuals
• treatment options are:
  • electrodessication and curettage
  • simple surgical excision
  • micrographic surgery
  • radiation therapy

• for more complete info on skin cancer therapy,
  visit the skin cancer section of B.C. Cancer Agency website at
  http://www.bccancer.bc.ca/cmm/skin.