Squamous cell skin cancer
Squamous-cell skin cancer, also known as cutaneous squamous-cell carcinoma (cSCC), is one of the main types of skin cancer along with basal cell cancer, and melanoma.[10] It usually presents as a hard lump with a scaly top but can also form an ulcer.[1] Onset is often over months.[4] Squamous-cell skin cancer is more likely to spread to distant areas than basal cell cancer.[11]
The greatest risk factor is high total exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the Sun.[2] Other risks include prior scars, chronic wounds, actinic keratosis, lighter skin, Bowen’s disease, arsenic exposure, radiation therapy, poor immune system function, previous basal cell carcinoma, and HPV infection.[2][12] Risk from UV radiation is related to total exposure, rather than early exposure.[13] Tanning beds are becoming another common source of ultraviolet radiation.[13] It begins from squamous cells found within the skin.[14] Diagnosis is often based on skin examination and confirmed by tissue biopsy.[2][3]
Decreasing exposure to ultraviolet radiation and the use of sunscreen appear to be effective methods of preventing squamous-cell skin cancer.[5][6] Treatment is typically by surgical removal.[2] This can be by simple excision if the cancer is small otherwise Mohs surgery is generally recommended.[2] Other options may include application of cold and radiation therapy.[7] In the cases in which distant spread has occurred chemotherapy or biologic therapy may be used.[7]
As of 2015, about 2.2 million people have cSCC at any given time.[8] It makes up about 20% of all skin cancer cases.[15] About 12% of males and 7% of females in the United States developed cSCC at some point in time.[2] While prognosis is usually good, if distant spread occurs five-year survival is ~34%.[4][5] In 2015 it resulted in about 51,900 deaths globally.[9] The usual age at diagnosis is around 66.[4] Following the successful treatment of one case of cSCC people are at high risk of developing further cases.[2]
Kennett
Kennett is a city in and the county seat of Dunklin County, Missouri, United States.[6] The city is located in the southeast corner (or “Bootheel“) of Missouri, 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Arkansas and 20 miles (32 km) from the Mississippi River. It has a population of 10,932 according to the 2010 Census.[7] It is the largest city in the Bootheel, a mostly agricultural area.
White settlers built log cabins in the area in the first half of the 19th century, naming their settlement Chilletecaux in honor of a Delaware Indian chief who lived there. The town was renamed Butler in the late 1840s. Due to mail delivery problems because of other jurisdictions named the same, the settlement was renamed as Kennett, in honor of the mayor of the city of St. Louis, Luther M. Kennett.[8]
In the 1890s, a railroad reached the area, stimulating growth in the town. In that same period, the state began construction of a massive drainage program in the St. Francis River basin, which was floodplain and wetlands. In the 20th century, after timber clearing, the area was developed for cultivation of cotton and other commodity crops.[9]