ORLANDO – Squamous cell carcinoma has a direct cost of nearly $300 million a year. Although squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is not as deadly as other forms of skin cancer, it is a serious public health issue, according to Dr. Chrysalyne D. Schmults.
Dr. Schmults of Harvard Medical School and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, published a study earlier this year introducing a new staging system for SCC, called the Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) tumor staging system.
The BWH system, Dr. Schmults and her colleagues wrote, “offers improved distinctiveness, homogeneity, and monotonicity” over both the American Joint Committee on Cancer and International Union Against Cancer staging systems, although larger studies are needed.
In a video interview at the annual meeting of the Florida Society of Dermatologic Surgeons, Dr. Schmults explained the BWH staging system and shared her clinical advice and recommendations for managing SCC.
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