I thought it was just paronychia that won't go away! A doctor's examination found "nail cancer": it was so severe that the finger needed to be amputated
I thought it was just paronychia that won’t go away! A medical examination revealed that it was “nail cancer”
If your nails look abnormal, or have obvious symptoms such as redness, swelling, pain, etc., in addition to common conditions such as onychomycosis and paronychia, it may actually be caused by “skin tumors”! Dr. Yang Yatang, the attending physician of the Department of Dermatology at Cathay General Hospital, pointed out that the most common malignant tumor in the nail area is “nail bed squamous cell carcinoma”. If you find nail abnormalities and the wound does not heal for a long time, you should be alert and seek medical treatment quickly.
Dr. Yang Yatang said that a 76-year-old male patient was admitted to the clinic. The nail on his right index finger had been painful and swollen for several months. The pain was unbearable and he had to go to the hospital as a last resort. After examination by Dr. Yang Yatang, he was found to have paronychia, but after applying the medicine, there was only partial improvement. He suspected that there were other causes of paronychia. After biopsy, it was found that the patient’s paronychia was caused by squamous cell carcinoma of the nail bed. Subsequent surgery was performed to confirm complete resection, thus eliminating the need for amputation, and the patient recovered well postoperatively.
Which groups are most prone to nail bed squamous cell carcinoma? The cause of the disease is related to infection with “this virus”
Dr. Yang Yatang pointed out that squamous cell carcinoma of the nail bed is the most common malignant tumor on the nails. It occurs more frequently in middle-aged and older men and is more common on the fingers than the toes. The current cause of the disease has been found to be related to human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, chronic radiation exposure, chronic arsenic poisoning and other risk factors. Compared with the general skin, the local invasion of squamous cell carcinoma progresses more quickly, but it rarely occurs remotely. transfer.
The clinical symptoms of nail bed squamous cell carcinoma include: nail abnormalities caused by tumors, or chronic wounds that cannot heal. Because the symptoms are often very similar to other benign diseases such as paronychia, onychomycosis, viral warts, etc., therefore, Dr. Yang Yatang Patients are urged to be vigilant and seek medical attention as soon as possible if they find abnormal nails or wounds that do not heal for a long time.
How is nail bed squamous cell carcinoma treated? Medical warning: In the advanced stage, the entire finger may need to be removed
Dr. Yang Yatang explained that the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the nail bed is mainly surgical. If the tumor invasion is not deep and has not yet invaded the bones, Mohs surgery (layered removal of skin cancer lesions under local anesthesia) or other complete resections can be used The method is combined with frozen sections to confirm that the malignant cells have been completely removed, and then local skin flap reconstruction, skin graft reconstruction, or secondary healing is used to care for the wound depending on the extent of the resection. If the tumor has invaded the bone at an advanced stage, finger amputation may be required.
Dr. Yang Yatang reminded that nails are part of the skin system of the whole body. In addition to the commonly heard conditions such as paronychia and onychomycosis, various benign and malignant skin tumors may occur in the nail bed and periungual skin. The general public often It is difficult to tell the difference. It is recommended that if the public has relevant concerns, they should receive complete skin and nail tumor examination and treatment as soon as possible; if there are skin wounds that have not healed for a long time or nail lesions, it is recommended to seek evaluation from a professional dermatologist to facilitate early diagnosis.
Further reading: Are black streaks on nails a sign of cancer? How to distinguish onychomycosis from psoriasis nails?
