Skin Cancer Treatment
This information is of a general nature only and is for public information and education. Your individual problem needs to be assessed by your family doctor who will advise you on appropriate further steps.
Primary skin cancers
The initial step in the treatment of skin cancer is to confirm the diagnosis. Quite often, this is a clinical decision made after examining the affected area with magnification. Sometimes, a biopsy is done where a small selection of the cancer is sent to a Pathologist for examination under a microscope. Appropriate treatment is then planned and this may be with Laser for superficial skin cancers or excision with a knife for deeper cancers. Reconstruction of the treated area, to leave it looking as near normal as possible and to preserve function, is often necessary and is usually carried out at the same time as removal of the cancer.
Residual or Recurrent skin cancers
The treatment of residual skin cancers, where initial treatment was inadequate and where there is persistence of cancer, and recurrent cancers where the cancer recurs after previous treatment is more difficult. In a significant percentage of patients surgery is done in a staged fashion, where excision is done to confirm adequacy of cancer removal and followed up, after 24 or 48 hours, by reconstruction with skin grafts or flaps (skin and fat) and sometimes with additional material such as cartilage from the ear or the nose.
Frozen Section Examination of cancer tissue where, the cancer removed is handed over to a Pathologist for examination while the patient is still on the operating table, is used where there is difficulty in outlining the extent of the cancer and often in cancers involving the eye lids to preserve as much tissue as possible for satisfactory reconstruction.
The need for comprehensive care in skin cancer treatment
There is a lot more to skin cancer treatment then cancer removal: Accurate diagnosis, adequate removal, appropriate reconstruction and proper and long term follow up care is needed. Preservation of function and appearance takes a while to be established due to the way tissue heal and mould and hence scar management is an important part of the treatment. There may also be instances where more treatment may be required, in the form of surgery or sometimes, with Radiotherapy or occasionally with Chemotherapy.
