Ultrasound in Skin Cancer: Why, How, and When to Use It?

BACKGROUND

Skin cancer is the most common cancer in human beings. Ultrasound is a powerful and non-invasive imaging technique that has expanded its use in dermatology, including in the skin cancer field. The full range of critical anatomical information provided by ultrasound cannot be deduced from a naked eye examination, palpation, or other imaging techniques such as dermoscopy, confocal microscopy, magnetic resonance imaging, or PET-CT (Positron Emission Tomography-Computed Tomography).

METHODS

This review practically analyzes the main ultrasonographic features of the most common types of skin cancers and the performance of the locoregional staging according to the literature, which is illustrated by state-of-the-art clinical and ultrasonographic correlations.

RESULTS

The most common types of skin cancer show recognizable ultrasonographic patterns.

CONCLUSIONS

Among the current radiological imaging techniques, ultrasound has the highest axial spatial resolution. Compared to other imaging techniques used in dermatology, it shows the great advantage of penetrating the soft tissues thoroughly, which allows us to detect and identify the most common skin types of skin cancer, including both the primary tumor and its locoregional metastases.