Basal Cell Carcinoma vs. Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Key Differences

If you’ve been told you might be comparing basal cell carcinoma vs squamous cell carcinoma and aren’t sure what that actually means, you’re not alone, the two get lumped together constantly despite behaving very differently. Both fall under the umbrella of nonmelanoma skin cancer, both are driven mainly by cumulative sun exposure, and both are highly treatable when caught early. But they start in different layers of your skin, grow at very different speeds, and carry meaningfully different risks if you leave them alone. Knowing which one you’re looking at changes how urgently you should act.Where Each One StartsYour skin’s outer layer, the epidermis, is made up of different cell types stacked on top of each other. Basal cell carcinoma begins in the basal cells sitting at the very bottom of that layer. Squamous cell carcinoma begins in the squamous cells that make up most of the upper layers, closer to the surface. According to Cleveland Clinic, this difference in cell of origin is the main reason the two behave so differently once they start growing.That difference in starting point is part of why they behave so differently. BCC has to travel further to reach blood vessels and lymp...