Treatments used for skin cancer depend on the size, depth, location and type of the cancer. Basal and squamous cell carcinomas are easily treatable when detected in the early stages. Melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, can spread rapidly, so early detection and treatment are essential. A number of surgical techniques and therapies are available to treat skin cancer.
Surgical Excision
Cutting out the skin cancer is an operation used for all skin cancers, but it is the necessary first step in the removal of melanoma, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation. The doctor excises the skin cancer and surrounding healthy tissue to ensure all cancer cells have been removed. The procedure is performed in the doctor's office or in an outpatient setting.
Mohs Surgery
The procedure benefits patients with basal and squamous cell carcinomas that are large, recurring or difficult to treat. The doctor removes the cancer layer by layer, the Mayo Clinic explains. Each layer is examined under a microscope to make sure no abnormal cells still exist. The technique removes the cancer cells without taking off an excessive amount of healthy skin tissue.
Laser Therapy
For superficial skin cancer, laser therapy works with little damage to surrounding tissue. An intense beam of light destroys the thin cancers. Swelling and scarring are minimal.
Scraping
A technique called curettage and electrodesiccation starts with scraping away layers of cancer cells with a blade. An electrode needle then rids the skin of all remaining cancer cells. It is a common procedure for small or thin basal cell carcinomas, the Mayo Clinic says.
Early Stage Techniques
Some small, early skin cancers are frozen with liquid nitrogen in a technique often used for pre-cancers. The frozen tissue dies and eventually falls off. In some cases, a simple biopsy is all that is needed to remove all abnormal cells in very small skin cancers. Dermatologists take biopsies of most suspected cancers.
Additional Therapy
Chemotherapy drugs can be used in creams or lotions to treat cancers limited to the top layer and for skin cancers that have spread. Chemotherapy is being tried on patients in the later stages of melanoma with limited success, the Skin Cancer Foundation points out. Some skin cancer patients benefit from immunotherapy to help the body's immune system. A combination of laser light and drugs is used in photodynamic therapy to kill cancer cells. Gene therapy that alters cells to attack melanoma offers some hope for continued treatment.
