A flesh-colored, dome-shaped, 1.2-cm nodule has appeared on .the right ear lobe of a 60-year- old man in the past month. A central keratin-filled crater is surrounded by proliferating squamous epithelium. This lesion regresses over/ the next month and then disappears. Which of the following diagnoses is most appropriate for this lesion?

The gross and microscopic appearance is typical of keratoacanthoma: These are self-limited lesions that often regress on their own. Those that do not regress should be suspected of being squamous cell carcinomas. The typical squamous cell' carcinoma does not regress. Basal cell carcinomas may also be raised lesions, but they also do not regress. A seborrheic keratosis tends to be a flatter (although raised), rough-surfaced, pigmented lesion that slowly enlarges over time. An actinic keratosis tends to be a flat, pigmented lesion that is tan to brown to red.