{"entity":{"id":"squamous-cell-carcinoma","kind":"term","name":"Squamous cell carcinoma","aka":["squamous","squamous cell","squamous carcinoma","squamous carcinomas","squamous cell carcinomas","SCC","non-squamous","nonsquamous","squamous-cell","squamous histology","epidermoid","squamous-cell-carcinoma-term"],"tldr":"A carcinoma arising from the flat, layered cells that line surfaces exposed to wear: skin, mouth, throat, oesophagus, cervix, the larger airways. Often linked to tobacco, sun or HPV.","summary":"Squamous cells are stacked like tiles and make keratin, and their cancers keep enough of that character for pathologists to recognise them; the common causes are chronic irritation and carcinogens, which is why they dominate in smokers' airways and oesophagus, in sun-exposed skin, and in HPV-infected cervix, anus and throat. Squamous cancers share some biology across sites (frequent TP53 and CDKN2A loss, PIK3CA and FGFR1 changes) and have proven responsive to immunotherapy and, for skin, to cemiplimab. In lung cancer the label 'non-squamous' on a trial or drug label means adenocarcinoma and its relatives, and excludes squamous disease.","asOf":"2026-09-09","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squamous-cell_carcinoma","links":[{"label":"Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squamous-cell_carcinoma"}],"tags":[],"related":["carcinoma","adenocarcinoma","histology","risk-factor","hpv-status"],"cancers":["head-and-neck","esophageal","cervical","nsclc","bowens-disease"],"sections":["diagnostics"],"technologies":["hpv-vaccine"],"targets":[],"drugs":["cemiplimab"],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":["cscc-subtype-and-grade","keratinocyte-cancer","keratoacanthoma"],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":["In the skin, the grade is assigned from the worst area. The UK reporting dataset for cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma uses three grades, well, moderately and poorly differentiated, and classifies a tumour by its most poorly differentiated region irrespective of the percentage present, because AJCC gives no guidance on what proportion should decide (RCPath G124)."],"category":"Biology basics"},"route":"/terms/squamous-cell-carcinoma/","neighbours":{"term":[{"id":"adenocarcinoma","kind":"term","name":"Adenocarcinoma","route":"/terms/adenocarcinoma/"},{"id":"carcinoma","kind":"term","name":"Carcinoma","route":"/terms/carcinoma/"},{"id":"histology","kind":"term","name":"Histology","route":"/terms/histology/"},{"id":"hpv-status","kind":"term","name":"HPV status (HPV-positive / HPV-negative)","route":"/terms/hpv-status/"},{"id":"keratinocyte-cancer","kind":"term","name":"Keratinocyte cancer (and why 'non-melanoma skin cancer' is being retired)","route":"/terms/keratinocyte-cancer/"},{"id":"keratoacanthoma","kind":"term","name":"Keratoacanthoma: the tumour that may be a squamous cell carcinoma","route":"/terms/keratoacanthoma/"},{"id":"risk-factor","kind":"term","name":"Risk factor","route":"/terms/risk-factor/"},{"id":"cscc-subtype-and-grade","kind":"term","name":"The subtype and grade on a cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma report","route":"/terms/cscc-subtype-and-grade/"}],"cancer":[{"id":"gallbladder-adenosquamous-squamous-carcinoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Adenosquamous and squamous carcinoma of the gallbladder","route":"/cancers/gallbladder-adenosquamous-squamous-carcinoma/"},{"id":"bowens-disease","kind":"cancer","name":"Bowen's disease (squamous cell carcinoma in situ)","route":"/cancers/bowens-disease/"},{"id":"cervical","kind":"cancer","name":"Cervical cancer","route":"/cancers/cervical/"},{"id":"head-and-neck","kind":"cancer","name":"Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma","route":"/cancers/head-and-neck/"},{"id":"nsclc","kind":"cancer","name":"Non-small-cell lung cancer","route":"/cancers/nsclc/"},{"id":"esophageal","kind":"cancer","name":"Oesophageal cancer","route":"/cancers/esophageal/"}],"section":[{"id":"diagnostics","kind":"section","name":"Diagnostics & Biomarkers","route":"/fronts/diagnostics/"}],"technology":[{"id":"hpv-vaccine","kind":"technology","name":"HPV & HBV vaccination","route":"/technologies/hpv-vaccine/"}],"drug":[{"id":"cemiplimab","kind":"drug","name":"Cemiplimab","route":"/drugs/cemiplimab/"}]}}