It's important to check your skin often for changes. Look at the front and sides of your body, and use a mirror or ask someone else to check your back.
Don't forget to check parts of your body you might not usually see, including your:
- Underarms.
- Buttocks.
- Scalp and where your hair parts.
Squamous cell carcinoma symptoms include:
- Small lumps or raised skin.
- Scaly or rough patches of skin.
- Areas that look like scars where you don't normally have a scar.
- Sores that aren't healing.
Sometimes these areas may look red or brown, and they may bleed, itch, or feel numb. They might appear raised and crusty, or they might be smooth and shiny.
Certain skin changes are precancerous conditions. Some of these conditions are more likely to turn into squamous cell carcinoma.
These include:
- Actinic keratosis, a skin change caused by too much sun. These are usually smooth or raised patches that might look red, tan, pink, or several colors at once.
- Bowen disease, a skin change that is the beginning of squamous cell carcinoma. Larger red patches that might be crusty, scaly, itchy, or sore form on the skin.
It's important to schedule an exam with your doctor when you notice new growths, patches, or sores that don't heal. Be sure to mention moles or spots you've had for a while, but now look or feel different.