What condition is keratocanthoma most similar to?

Keratocanthoma is most similar to squamous cell carcinoma because both conditions derive from squamous cells and share similar histological features. Keratocanthoma is often considered to be a variant of squamous cell carcinoma due to its characteristics, such as the presence of keratinization and its typically invasive growth pattern.

While keratocanthoma is generally regarded as a benign or self-limiting lesion that can regress spontaneously, its appearance can lead to difficulty in differentiating it from squamous cell carcinoma in clinical and histopathological evaluations. Both conditions can present as domed nodules with a central crater filled with keratin. The similarity in cellular origin and pathology aligns keratocanthoma closely with squamous cell carcinoma compared to other choices, such as basal cell carcinoma, which has a different cellular basis and growth pattern, or melanoma, which originates from melanocytes. Adenocarcinoma, originating from glandular epithelium, further differs from keratocanthoma in both origin and histology.