Choosing a Skin Cancer doctor
If you're
concerned about skin cancer, your family physician is a good place to start. He
or she should examine your skin at your annual physical, and can refer you to a
specialist if necessary.
If you notice an unusual growth yourself, consult a plastic surgeon or a
dermatologist. Both are skilled at diagnosing and treating skin cancer and other
skin growths. A plastic surgeon can surgically remove the growth in a manner
that maintains function and offers the most pleasing final appearance- a
consideration that may be especially important if the cancer is in a highly
visible area. If a treatment other than surgical excision is called for, the
plastic surgeon can refer you to the appropriate specialist.
Diagnosis and treatment
Skin cancer is diagnosed by removing all or part of the growth and examining
its cells under a microscope. It can be treated by a number of methods,
depending on the type of cancer, its stage of growth, and its location on your
body.
Small skin cancers can often be excised
quickly and easily in the physician's office.
Most skin cancers are removed
surgically, by a plastic surgeon or a dermatologist. If the cancer is small, the
procedure can be done quickly and easily, in an outpatient facility or the
physician's office, using local anesthesia. The procedure may be a simple
excision, which usually leaves a thin, barely visible scar. Or curettage and
desiccation may be performed. In this procedure the cancer is scraped out with
an electric current to control bleeding and kill any remaining cancer cells.
This leaves a slightly larger, white scar. In either case, the risks of the
surgery are low.
Simple excision usually leaves a thin
barely visible scar.
If the cancer is large, however, or if it has spread to the lymph glands or
elsewhere in the body, major surgery may be required. Other possible treatments
for skin cancer include cryosurgery (freezing the cancer cells), radiation
therapy (using x-rays), topical chemotherapy (anti-cancer drugs applied to the
skin), and Moh's surgery, a special procedure in which the cancer is shaved off
one layer at a time. (Moh's surgery is performed only by specially trained
physicians and often requires a reconstructive procedure as follow-up.)