Imaging Aids Management in High-Risk Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma

WEDNESDAY, April 23, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- Imaging often reveals unexpected findings in high-risk cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC), leading to altered clinical management in about half of cases, according to a study published online April 17 in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.Angela H. Wei, M.D., from the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, and colleagues examined the utilization of radiologic imaging and its impact on management in high-risk cSCC in a retrospective cohort analysis of invasive cSCC during a 25-year period. Patients with primary Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) T stage 2a high, T2b, T3, and recurrent cSCC tumors were included and stratified into two cohorts: imaged and nonimaged (138 and 256 tumors, respectively).The researchers found that compared with nonimaged tumors, imaged tumors were more likely to be BWH T2b/T3, located on the head and neck/trunk, and moderately or poorly differentiated, and were more likely to have a larger diameter, depth beyond fat, and perineural involvement. In 49 percent of imaged tumors, unexpected imaging findings were observed, most often local invasion beyond clinical expectations and nodal metastasis (23 and 18 percent, respectively). Clinical management was altered by imaging results in 47 percent of cases, often by altering the surgical approach."These findings reinforce the need for consistent imaging, particularly of the local site and nodal basins, in the evaluation of all high-risk cSCCs to aid accurate staging and treatment planning," the authors write.Abstract/Full Text.Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

Imaging Aids Management in High-Risk Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma

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