This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

Pain, itching indicate different forms of skin cancer

In a study to examine correlations between itch, pain and skin cancer type, findings supported the researchers’ theory that itching is indicative of more superficial lesions, whereas pain is associated with deeper dermal involvement.

Study participants included 268 patients with 339 confirmed cutaneous neoplasms. Participants completed surveys regarding the intensity of itch or pain associated with their skin tumors at the time of excision. A zero to 10 numerical VAS scale and histopathological assessment was used to assess each neoplasm.

Gil Yosipovitch

Prevalence of itch across all skin cancers was 36.9%, whereas the prevalence of pain across all skin cancers was 28.2%. Itch prevalence was greatest in squamous cell carcinomas (46.6%) followed by basal cell carcinomas, (31.9%) and melanoma (14.8%) according to the study.

Similarly, pain prevalence was also greatest in squamous cell carcinomas (42.5%) again followed by basal cell carcinomas, (19.9%) and melanoma (3.7%).

Across all skin cancers, the mean depth of invasion was highest in the most painful lesions, followed by intermediately painful lesions; ulcerated cancers had higher pain intensity scores compared with those for nonulcerated cancers.

Higher itch intensity had a significant association with degree of inflammation, as well as the presence of eosinophils, according to the researchers.

Disclosure: The authors have no relevant financial disclosures.