Types of skin
cancer
There are
three main types of skin cancer: basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma
and malignant melanoma.
On this
page
Basal cell carcinoma
Squamous cell carcinoma
Malignant melanoma
Rarer types of non-melanoma skin cancer
Bowen's disease
Basal cell
carcinoma
Basal cell
carcinoma, or BCC, is a cancer of the basal cells at the bottom of the
epidermis. It is sometimes called a rodent ulcer. It’s very common. About 75%
of all skin cancers in the UK are BCCs. Most BCCs are very slow-growing and
almost never spread to other parts of the body.
When BCCs
are treated at an early stage, they are usually completely cured. However, some
BCCs are aggressive, and, if left to grow, they may spread into the deeper
layers of the skin and sometimes to the bones. This can make treatment
difficult.
A small
number of BCCs may come back in the same area of skin after treatment. This is
known as a local recurrence.
Squamous cell
carcinoma
Squamous
cell carcinoma, or SCC, is a cancer of the keratinocyte cells in the outer
layer of the skin. It’s the second most common type of skin cancer in the UK.
Most people treated for SCC are completely cured with simple treatment.
Usually, squamous cell carcinomas are slow-growing and only spread to other
parts of the body if they are left untreated for a long time. Occasionally
though, they can behave more aggressively and spread at a relatively early
stage.
Malignant
melanoma
This is a
less common type of skin cancer. Melanoma behaves differently to basal cell and
squamous cell cancers. It can grow quickly and needs to be treated early. This
section does not cover malignant melanoma, but we have separate information on
malignant melanoma.
Rarer types of
non-melanoma skin cancer
There are
some other rare types of skin cancer:
Merkel cell carcinoma
Kaposi's sarcoma
cutaneous T-cell lymphoma of the skin
sarcoma.
Less than
3% of all skin cancers in the UK are these rarer types of skin cancer.
Bowen's disease
Bowen’s disease
is sometimes called squamous cell carcinoma in-situ. It’s caused by the
abnormal growth of cells in the outer layer of the skin. These cells don’t
spread into the deeper layers of the skin. If left untreated, Bowen’s disease
may develop into squamous cell carcinoma.
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