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Melanoma and other skin cancers - Precancerous Skin Conditions

Description

An in-depth report on the causes, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancers.

Alternative Names

Skin cancer; Squamous cell cancer; Basal cell cancer; Actinic keratosis; Nonmelanoma skin cancer

Precancerous Skin Conditions:

Actinic (Solar) Keratosis. Actinic keratosis (also called solar keratosis) is a skin lesion caused by too much sun exposure. There is some increased risk of skin cancer in patients who have these lesions, but the risk of one specific actinic keratosis turning into cancer is low. The increased risk of cancers may be due to the fact that heavy sun exposure has been linked to both actinic keratosis and nonmelanoma skin cancers.

Actinic keratosis occur after years of sun exposure. They appear mostly on sun-exposed skin, such as the face, neck, back of the hands and forearms, upper chest, and upper back. Men may develop keratosis along the rim of the ear.

Actinic keratosis have the following characteristics:

Lesions typically occur on the surface of the skin and have a sandpaper-like feel. In fact, they are sometimes more easily felt than seen.
Most lesions are pink and even flesh-colored. Some are red or brown, scaly, and tender. At times, they can resemble melanomas; even dermatologists may have trouble telling the two apart.
They can range in size from microscopic to several inches in diameter.

Keratoacanthomas. Keratoacanthomas closely resemble squamous cell cancers, but they are not cancerous. Most of these occur in sun-exposed skin, usually on the hands or face. They are typically skin colored or slightly red when they first develop, but their appearance typically changes:

In the early stages, keratoacanthomas are smooth, red, and dome shaped.
Within a few weeks, they can grow rapidly, usually to 1 or 2 centimeters. Some reach the size of a quarter in less than a month and can be disfiguring.
They eventually stop growing and become crater-like, with a surrounding outer rim of tissue and sometimes a crusty interior.

Most will get better on their own within 1 year, but they almost always scar after healing. Also about 25% develop into squamous cell cancers, most frequently in older people and in sun-exposed areas. Removal by surgery (sometimes by radiation) is recommended. They may also be treated with 5-fluorouracil, either as a cream or injections.

Resources

www.aad.org -- American Academy of Dermatology
www.cancer.org -- American Cancer Society
www.asds.net -- American Society for Dermatologic Surgery
www.mpip.org -- Melanoma Patients' Information Page
www.cancer.gov -- National Cancer Institute
www.nccn.org -- National Comprehensive Cancer Network
www.skincancer.org -- The Skin Cancer Foundation
www.epa.gov/sunwise/uvindex.html -- UV index information

References

Abbasi NR, Yancovitz M, Gutkowicz-Krusin D, Panageas K, Googe P, King R, et al. Utility of lesion diameter in the clinical diagnosis of cutaneous melanoma. Arch Dermatol. 2008;144:469-474.

American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts and Figures 2008. Atlanta, GA: American Cancer Society; 2008.

Anderson L, Schmieder GJ, Werschler WP, et al. Randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, vehicle-controlled study of ingenol mebutate gel 0.025% and 0.05% for actinic keratosis. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2009;60(6):934-43.

Basal cell and squamous cell cancers: NCCN Medical Practice Guidelines and Oncology;V.1.2009. Accessed July 15, 2009.

Braathen LR, Szeimies RM, Basset-Seguin N, Bissonnette R, Foley P, Pariser D, et al. Guidelines on the use of photodynamic therapy for nonmelanoma skin cancer: an international consensus. International Society for Photodynamic Therapy In Dermatology, 2005. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2005;56:125-143.

Brantsch KD, Meisner C, Schonfisch B, Trilling B, Wehner-Caroli J, Rocken M, et al. Analysis of risk factors determining prognosis of cutaneous squamous-cell carcinoma: a prospective study. The Lancet Oncology. 2008;9:713-720.

Clinical practice guideline for melanoma: NCCN Medical Practice Guidelines and Oncology;V.2.2009. Accessed July 15, 2009.

Cyr PR. Atypical Moles. Am Fam Physician. 2008;78(6):735-40. Review.

deBerker D, McGregor JM, Hughes BR. Guidelines for the management of actinic keratoses. Br J Dermatol. 2007;156:222-230.

Eggermont AM, Suciu S, Santinami M, et al: EORTC Melanoma Group. Adjuvant therapy with pegylated interferon alfa-2b versus observation alone in resected stage III melanoma: final result of EORTC 18991, a randomised phase III trial. Lancet. 2008;372(9633):117-26.

Garcia C, Polette E, Crowson AN. Basosquamous carcinoma. J Am Dermatol. 2009;60(1):137-43.

Goodson AG, Grossman D. Strategies for early melanoma detection: Approaches to the patient with nevi. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2009;60(5):719-35: quiz 736-8. Review.

Guadagnolo BA, Zagars GK. Adjuvant radiation therapy for high-risk notal metastases from cutaneous melanoma. Lancet Oncol. 2009;10(4):409-16.

Hexsel, CL, Bangert SD, Hebert AA, et al. Current sunscreen issues: 2007 Food and Drug Administration sunscreen labelling recommendations and combination sunscreen/insect repellent products. J Am Dermatol. 2008;59(2):316-23. Review.

Lachiewicz AM, Berwick M, Wiggins CL, Thomas NE. Survival differences between patients with scalp or neck melanoma and those with melanoma of other sites in the surveillance, epidemiology, and end results (SEER) program. Arch Dermatol. 2008;144:515-521.

Lange JR, Fecher LA, Sharfman WH, et al. Melanoma. In: Abeloff MD, Armitage JO, Nierderhuber JE, Kastan MB, McKenna WG, eds. Abeloff's Clinical Oncology. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Churchill Livingstone; 2008:chap 73.

Lautenschlager S, Wulf HC, Pittelkow MR. Photoprotection. The Lancet [early online publication]. May 3, 2007.

Markovick SN, Erickson LA, Rao RD, Weenig RH, Pockaj BA, Bardia A, et al. Malignant melanoma in the 21st century, part 1:epidemiology, risk factors, screening, prevention, and diagnosis. Mayo Clin Proc. 2007;82:364-380.

Markovick SN, Erickson LA, Rao RD, Weenig RH, Pockaj BA, Bardia A, et al. Malignant melanoma in the 21st century, part 2: staging, prognosis, and treatment. Mayo Clin Proc. 2007;82:490-513.

Morton CA, mckenna KE, Rhodes LE:British Association of Dermatologists Therapy Guidelines and Audit Subcomittee and the British Photodermatology group. Guidelines for topical photodynamic therapy: update. Br J Dermatol. 2008;159(6):1245-66. Review.

Morton DL, Thompson JF, Cochran AJ Mozzillo N, Elashoff R, Essner R, et al. Sentinel-node biopsy or nodal observation in melanoma. N Engl J Med. 2006;355:1307-1317.

Olsen CM, Zens MS, Stukel TA, et al. Nevus density and melanoma risk in women: to test the divergent pathway hypothesis. Int J Cancer. 2009;124(4):937-44.

Ridky TW. Nonmelanoma skin cancer. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2007;57:484-501.

Savel MS, Wong SI. Review of evidence-based support for pretreatment imaging in melanoma. J Natl compr Canc netw. 2009;7(3):281-9. Review.

Suh KY, Bolognia JL. Signature nevi. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2009;60(3):508-14. Review.

Telfer NR, Colver GB, Morton CA. Guidelines for the Management of Basal Cell Carcinoma. BJD. 2008;159:35-48.

Tran KT, Wright NA, Cockerell CJ. Biopsy of the pigmented lesion-when and how. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2008;59(5):852-71. Review.

Treatment for Metastatic Ocular Melanoma. NCI Cancer Bulletin. March 7, 2006;3(10):8.

Vestergaard ME, Macaskill P, Holt PE, et al. Dermoscopy compared with naket eye examination for the diagnosis of primary melanoma: a meta-analysis of studies performed in a clinical setting. Br J Dermatol. 2008;159(3):669-76.

Warycha MA, Zakrzewski J, Ni Q, et al. Meta-analysis of sentinal lymph node positivity in thin melanoma. Cancer. 2009;115(4):869-79.

Wood GS, Gunkel J, Stewart D, et al. Nonmelanoma skin cancers: basal and squamous cell carcinomas. In: Abeloff MD, Armitage JO, Nierderhuber JE, Kastan MB, McKenna WG, eds. Abeloff's Clinical Oncology. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Churchill Livingstone; 2008:chap 74.

Zeichner JA, Stern DW, Uliasz A, et al. Placebo-controlled double-blind randomized pilot study of imiquimod 5% cream applied once per week for 6 months for the treatment of actinic keratoses. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2009;60(1):59-62.

Reviewed last on: 7/30/2009
Harvey Simon, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

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