Skin Cancer Treatments

Knowing about skin cancer treatments can help you make the right decision. There are several options for most kinds of skin cancer. None of them are skin cancer cures, but they are very effective.

You could be cancer free for life. All you have to do is treat the cancer early. If you start the right combination of treatments for the stage and type of skin cancer you have, you have a good chance of recovering.

There are several main skin cancer treatments. Each one is good for certain types of skin cancer and certain situations. The location of the cancer and the stage it's in will affect what kind of treatment you need. This means that your treatment plan will be different from anyone else's. There is no generic skin cancer cure. You may have surgery, receive radiation, or chemotherapy. You might even have a combination of the three. Here's a look at some of the skin cancer treatments available.

Information is the best thing you can have when it comes to dealing with cancer. Here's a look at some of the skin cancer facts you're going to need to know.

Surgery

This is the most common treatment for skin cancer. Simple removal of the tumor works for most early stage cancers, even the more serious ones. Your skin cancer surgeon will carefully determine whether surgery is the right choice for you.

In cases where the tumor is close to an eye, the nose, or another facial feature, you might have to have reconstruction afterward. This kind of situation also increases the chance that the tumor will come back. That's because not as much tissue can be removed.

There are several different kinds of surgery that are used for skin cancer. Usually an extra ring of skin around the tumor is also removed. This helps the surgeon make sure that all the cancer is gone

When this happens, you can get brain cancer, lung cancer, bone cancer, or a number of other kinds of dangerous diseases. That's how a lump in your skin can actually be deadly.

Skin cancer starts out in the upper layer of skin. This is called the epidermis. Skin cancer is confined to this layer in the early stages. It's not until it has time to grow and spread that it can pass through the upper layer of skin and into the lower layers.

This advanced skin cancer is the kind that's most likely to be deadly. Once a tumor has become deep enough to reach the lower part of the skin, it can spread through your body. Your prognosis for melanoma depends on how far the cancer has been able to get.

Early Symptoms Of Skin Cancer

Most people notice skin cancer as an unusual looking mark on their skin, or a mole that doesn't look the way it should. These cancerous spots can be found on your own, or they can be discovered by a doctor during a physical exam. Checking out your skin or having your spouse or a relative do it for you can help you catch skin cancer early on. All types of skin cancer are easy to treat in the earliest stages. They can often be completely removed, leave very small scars, and have a low chance of coming back.

You're in more danger the longer you wait.

Here are a few skin cancer symptoms:

1. Most skin cancer surgeries can be done under local anesthetic.

2. They don't need hospital stay.

3. You can leave the same day.

Another kind of surgery that's more expensive, but also more effective is Mohs surgery. Anything different could turn out to be a problem. That's why you need to talk about it with your doctor. She can perform a biopsy to determine if the area really is cancerous. Your doctor can also help you get the skin cancer facts and information that you need.

Statistics About Skin Cancer

You may wonder if you're at risk for developing skin cancer. Many new cases occur every year. Fifty thousand people will be diagnosed with malignant melanoma this year in the United States alone. Many others will have less dangerous forms of skin cancer. Some risk factors will increase your chances of getting skin cancer. Here are a few:

1. This kind of surgery removes less surrounding skin.

2. The tumor is cut into thin slices while it's being removed.

3. Then the slices are looked at under a microscope.

This helps the doctor be certain that all the cancer is gone, without the need to take out more skin. A specially trained skin cancer surgeon is required for this kind of operation.


Radiation

Tumors that would be hard to remove with surgery might be treated with radiation. You might be offered radiation treatment if you have a cancer on your nose, eye, mouth or other place that's hard to operate on,. People who have health issues with surgery might try this, too.

Sometimes, radiation is used to shrink a tumor so that it will be easier to remove later. Radiation has a lower cure rate than surgery, though. That means that the cancer has a better chance of coming back.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is a good idea for tumors that are very thin and only on the top layer of the skin. The chemotherapy medicines can be applied right on the skin. They kill the cancer cells and keep them from coming back. This method leaves fewer and smaller scars than surgery.

It doesn't work on deep tumors, though. It also has a lower rate of cure than surgery. People who have chemotherapy for skin cancer have to make sure they watch their skin carefully.

"None of the skin cancer treatments are skin cancer cures, but they are effective."

People who have very advanced skin cancer might need chemotherapy, too. They would be given systemic medicines that work on their whole body. This can help kill the cancer that has spread to different parts of their body. Advanced skin cancer can be very dangerous.


Cryotherapy

Some skin cancers can be treated with cold. Cryotherapy involves freezing the cancer off instead of killing it with drugs or radiation. This kind of treatment for skin cancer is used mostly for low risk cancers. This treatment has a very good cure rate when done right. The problem is that it's very hard to do, and it takes a while for the treated skin to recover afterward.


Immune Therapy

Scientists have recently been experimenting with treatments that make the immune system stronger. This therapy can help your body get rid of the cancer on its own. We don't know a lot about this kind of treatment yet, though. It's still being tested.


Photodynamic Therapy

This way of treating skin cancer relies on light to kill the cancer. Medicines that are activated by light are put onto the skin. They become toxic when light touches them and destroy the cancer cells. This is a relatively new therapy, but it has been approved for use by doctors.


EDC

The full name is electrodessication and curettage. This therapy uses a round knife to scrape away the cancer cells. They’re softer than the skin cells nearby. Then the skin is burned using electricity. That makes the skin softer and easier to remove. The cure rate is based on the skill of the person doing the EDC. It tends to leave larger scars.



Related Pages

Alternative Medicine Skin Cancer - Information about alternative medicine for skin cancer.



Written by Grace Palmer
9/28/09

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