Nonmelanotic malignant skin tumors of the hand

Squamous cell and basal cell carcinomas, the common nonmelanotic skin tumors, are the most frequent malignancies to occur in the hand. In spite of a rising incidence, these tumors are only occasionally seen by the hand surgeon because of their overall rarity. Untreated lesions are locally destructive and may cause functional deficits and death by way of metastasis. Appropriate treatment consists of timely diagnosis, surgical excision with a margin of normal tissue, lymph node dissection for clinically positive nodes or in special circumstances, and careful follow-up for recurrence, metastasis or metachronous lesions. The aggressive nature of some of the rare nonmelanotic skin tumors that may occur in the hand underlines the importance of proper diagnosis of unknown hand tumors.