Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is a malignant tumor derived from epithelial cells. The skin, oral cavity and toes. These are the most common areas of occurrence in dogs and cats.
For skin tumor, SCC may have a 15% chance happen in cats. Most cats develop on the head, and the range often covers the auricle, eyelids, and nose.
However, less than 5% of skin tumor in dogs are SCC, and the most common areas of occurrence include extremities, scrotum, and nose.
For oral tumor, SCC may have a 70% happen in cats and 25% in dogs.
For toe tumor, SCC may have a 38% to 50% happen in dogs, but is rarely seen in toe tumor in cats.
Most SCC are locally invasive and may invade deeply into the bone. They may metastasize to other locations through lymph nodes, but clinically sporadic metastasis is rare unless it is a very advanced tumor. However, some special parts are due to anatomical locations will have a higher transfer rate, e.g. lungs, toes, chest line.
The cause of SCC is not completely clear at present, but studies have suggested that a large part of the cause of SCC in dogs and cats is related to ultraviolet rays, so the predilection sites are also concentrated in areas with less hair or less melanin.