Treatment for skin cancers ranges from simple, topical medications to surgical excisions or microsurgical methods performed with local anesthetic in a dermatologist's office. Sometimes a biopsy to study the growth gets rid of the cancer, too. Regardless, treatment must be done to stop the spread of the skin cancer to other tissues, where it could cause serious complications and even death.
Significance
Early detection remains the key to treating skin cancer, the Skin Cancer Foundation points out. Cure rates continue to increase with advanced surgical techniques and medication, provided the cancer is caught early. You can catch suspicious growths through self-examination, then have a dermatologist determine whether these are cancer. People with previous skin cancers should get regular examinations of their bodies to catch further cancers in the early stages. People who are fair-skinned are at higher risk for skin cancer, which is often caused by overexposure to the sun. However, skin cancer can affect anyone.
Identification
A dermatologist can easily remove precancers areas, such as actinic keratoses, through freezing methods or lotions. Signs of precancers include rough, scaly, dark patches or spots.
Basel cell carcinomas, the most common skin cancers, appear as pearly or waxy bumps and flat, flesh-colored or brown, scar-like spots, according to the Mayo Clinic. Squamous cell carcinomas develop as hard, red nodules or flat, scaly and crusted lesions. Basel cell and squamous cell cancers are easily treated when detected early.
Signs of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, include dark or shiny lesions; brownish spots with darker speckles; moles that change in color, size or feel; and moles that bleed. Lesions with irregular borders that are red, white, bluish or blue-black also indicate possible melanoma. Seek treatment as soon as possible, because melanoma spreads rapidly.
Early Treatment
Freezing techniques are used for precancers and for some small cancers that are detected early, according to the Mayo Clinic. A doctor freezes the growths with liquid nitrogen, and they eventually fall off. Topical creams can handle growths that are limited to the top skin layer. A biopsy is usually taken of suspected cancerous growths and studied at a lab to determine if cancer cells are present. In some cases, a dermatologist also might remove the growth when it appears skin cancer has developed.
Surgical Techniques
A variety of surgical methods have developed to treat skin cancer. Surgical excisions work for all skin cancers. The doctor cuts out the cancerous growth and some surrounding tissue to make sure all cancer cells are removed. Laser therapy uses a precise beam of light to vaporize growths but causes little damage to surrounding areas. Radiation destroys basal and squamous cell carcinomas. Electrodesiccation employs electrodes to destroy remaining cancer cells after the doctor has removed most of the growth.
Mohs surgery causes a minimal amount of damage. The doctor uses micrographic technology to remove the cancer cells, which are taken out in layers. Each layer is examined under a microscope to look for malignant cells, the Skin Cancer Foundation notes. Surgery is complete when tissue is cancer-free.
Sometimes chemotherapy drugs are used to kill cancer cells after surgical treatment to ensure that the cancer does not spread.
Prevention/Solution
Some promising developments in treatment include immunotherapy and gene therapy to stop deadly melanoma, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation. Vaccines may be used against melanoma to prevent the disease for people with previous episodes of melanoma. Gene therapy could alter white blood cells to attack melanoma.
