Squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

A 73-year-old white woman presented to the wound clinic with a chronic wound on the dorsum of her left second toe. The patient reported that the wound developed 3 years after cryotherapy to the toe. She had tried many different dressings and ointments on the wound without improvement. She noted that the wound had grown in size over several months preceding presentation. The patient's medical history was significant for squamous cell carcinomas of the right leg, left ankle, and right forearm, diabetes mellitus, and rheumatoid arthritis. A biopsy revealed moderately to well differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. In this patient with a known history of cutaneous malignancy, the lesion could have been a squamous cell carcinoma that ulcerated or a squamous cell carcinoma arising from a chronic ulcer. The authors discuss the diagnosis and treatment of squamous cell carcinoma.