keratoacanthoma
Meaning of keratoacanthoma: This dome shaped skin growth appears within weeks and often resolves untreated, yet it can be nearly indistinguishable from squamous cell carcinoma.
Definition of keratoacanthoma
Keratoacanthoma is a rapidly growing, dome shaped skin growth that typically develops on sun exposed skin, particularly on the face, neck, and hands. It usually appears over a period of just weeks, often with a central crater filled with a keratin plug, the same tough protein that makes up the outer layer of skin and nails.
Keratoacanthoma closely resembles squamous cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer, both in how it looks and how it behaves under the microscope, and the two can be difficult to distinguish even with a biopsy. Because of this resemblance, and because some pathologists consider keratoacanthoma a distinct, well differentiated form of squamous cell carcinoma rather than a wholly separate entity, it is generally treated in a similar manner.
Many keratoacanthomas shrink and resolve on their own over a period of months, though because of the difficulty distinguishing them reliably from skin cancer, removal is commonly recommended rather than watching the growth to see whether it resolves.
Used in a sentence
A biopsy was performed on the rapidly growing facial lesion to distinguish keratoacanthoma from squamous cell carcinoma.
Good to know
Keratoacanthoma is difficult to distinguish reliably from squamous cell carcinoma even on biopsy, which is why it is generally managed as though it carries similar risk despite its tendency to resolve on its own.
Word origin
Where “keratoacanthoma” comes from
Formed from Greek keras, meaning horn, referring to keratin, combined with akantha, meaning thorn or spine, and the suffix -oma, meaning tumor.