No one wants to hear the dreaded word “cancer” in their lifetime. Unfortunately, it is becoming an all too common disease that is diagnosed in thousands of people each year. Skin cancer is one of the leading cancers diagnosed each year. This is partly due to the fact that many people just do not believe it could ever happen to them. Most people are not consistent with putting on sunscreen when they go about their daily activities either. They may use it at the beach, but for the rest of the year they ignore the sun as they travel about their life. This is why skin cancer treatment are becoming a popular topic as more and more people realize that this disease is becoming more common and increasingly dangerous.
Skin cancer is created when we are exposed to too much UV light from the sun’s rays. Over time, this causes our cells to divide in an irregular way. As these cells multiply at a rapid pace, they can form cancerous tumors that may cause a discoloration on your skin. Most skin cancers are extremely treatable when caught early. However, some people ignore the warning signs for months or years only to find out later that they could have treated it easily had they just seen a dermatologist.
If you or someone you know find out they have skin cancer, then they need to understand the skin cancer treatments that are available now. Of course, one should always consult with their doctor for more information.
* Surgery is one major option that a lot of people take. It is a very common procedure to have skin cancers removed. If the tumor is small, it can likely be removed using local anesthesia. Larger tumors or discolorations may require skin grafting where healthy skin is taken from another area of the body. If the cancer has spread into the surrounding lymph nodes, they may also need to be removed.
* Cryotherapy: This treatment is one where the cancerous cells are frozen with liquid nitrogen. This is highly effective with an early stage skin cancer, but not possible when the cancer is more advanced.
* Radiotherapy: This treatment consists of using high-energy radiation to kill or shrink cancerous cells. It can be used as an alternative to regular surgery as it results in no scarring. It may also be used after surgery to kill off any remaining cancerous cells to reduce the chances of the cancer returning. After this treatment, many people report feeling a bit ill as if they have the flu, but that typically passes fairly quickly.
Hearing the words “skin cancer” is a jolt that no one wants to feel, but it does not necessarily mean anything fatal. If treated early, this type of cancer is highly curable due to the advanced technologies available today. It is recommended that everyone see a dermatologist regularly to be checked out for possible areas of concern to avoid having to have skin cancer treatments in the future.
We all know that we need to keep an eye on skin and be cautious with moles, freckles or spots. But what exactly are we looking for?
While nothing will replace the expertise of your doctor and you should always get any new growth checked out, there are some signs that may indicate it is melanoma skin cancer. Doctors often use an ABCDE scale:
1) Asymmetrical: a spot is more likely to be melanoma if it is asymmetrical. Most benign moles and freckles tend to have a uniform shape.
2) Blurred outline: the outline of the spot tends to merge gradually with the rest of your skin
3) Color variations: the outer edges tend to be varying shades or black, brown or blue
4) Diameter : more than 6 millimeters is usual
5) Elevation or enlargement: it is slightly raised or has become larger in size.
Although it is a useful list of symptoms it doesn’t cover every type of lesion. Your local skin cancer center should have leaflets available which explain in more detail the other symptoms that you could look for. It is wise to go see your medical advisor if there is any change in color, shape or size or if your skin feels different or starts becoming inflamed, bleeding or crusting over. Alternatively if you have a spot that just won’t heal, this could also be skin cancer and should be brought to the attention of medical staff. Prevention is much better than trying to cure this disease and your local cancer center will be happy to put your fears to rest.
So what does skin cancer screening involve? If your doctor suspects melanoma he will arrange for an excision biopsy to be carried out. The whole lesion is removed along with some normal skin around it and examined in a lab. Before this happens, he could arrange for you to have skin surface imaging which will reveal the details of changes in the appearance of the skin. Some of the more advanced skin cancer centers have computerized systems that can examine photographs of lesions and compare them to pictures or cancerous and non cancerous growths in order to make a diagnosis. This is a very advanced system and is rarely wrong.
When the lesion is removed, the surgeon will also remove some healthy tissue around the lesion. This is to ensure that no malignant cells are left behind which could spread the disease further in your body. But it is a delicate procedure as they cannot remove too much tissue in case the lesion is malignant as this will make treatment more difficult. If it is found to be skin cancer, the pathologist will report on the type, thickness and whether there is ulceration or not. The treatment you will have to undergo will depend to a large extent on the pathology findings. The cancer is staged from 1 to 4 with 4 being the most dangerous and difficult to cure.
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