Even though we’re in the darkest time of the year, it’s still important to practice skin safety when you’re outside. The sun can cause signs of premature aging and, unfortunately, skin cancer as well. If you spend a lot of time outside, then it’s important to have regular skin checks to make sure you don’t have skin cancer. If you do have skin cancer, we can help. Keep reading to learn more about skin cancer and how we treat it.
Skin Cancer
Skin cancer is one of the most common cancers in the United States. The three types of skin cancer that are commonly diagnosed include:
- Squamous cell carcinoma
- Basal cell carcinoma
- Melanoma
Thankfully, the non-melanoma skin cancers can often be treated in our medical office with a simple, minor surgery to remove cancerous cells. In addition, targeted drug therapy and immunotherapy may be great options. Because Melanoma is different and more serious, melanoma skin cancer may require multiple treatments, including surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy.
Treatment Options
Treatment for skin cancer will vary, depending on the type, size and location of the tumor. Many of the options we recommend involve removal of the entire growth and are usually enough to give you a cancer-free result.
These removal procedures are usually simple and require only a local anesthetic in an outpatient setting.
Some of the treatment options for skin cancer include:
Freezing – also known as cryosurgery. This kills tissue by freezing it with liquid nitrogen.
Excision – the abnormal tissue, as well as some of the surrounding healthy tissue, is cut out of the skin
Laser therapy – This option destroys cancerous growths with little damage to surrounding tissue.
Mohs surgery – Involving removal of larger growths lone layer at a time until no abnormal cells remain, this treatment is very effective.
Chemotherapy – This uses drugs to kill cancer and may also be applied through creams or lotions for surface-level tumors.
Regardless if you want to test for skin cancer, or you just want to see the best for treatment, we’re here for you. Contact us at (928) 537-6937 to schedule an appointment with one of our fine physicians today.
