If you have received a diagnosis of skin cancer you might be wondering what treatment which you will receive as, even if you have already been over your treatment choices with your doctor, you might still feel lost due to the inability to absorb all the technical jargon that was thrown at you. It is also possible that you might not have taken in the information because of the shock following your diagnosis.
Here therefore is a brief outline of just some of the treatments which are typically used to treat skin cancer.
The precise treatment that you will receive is going to depend upon a number of different things which include your age and whether any cancer has spread to other parts of your body.
Your treatment may consist of surgery during which your surgeon may decide to remove the cancerous region itself together with some of the surrounding skin tissue. The amount of normal skin removed will be dependent upon the particular form of cancer found and how deep that cancer is. Usually an area of about one to two centimeters of surrounding skin will be removed.
Some types of skin cancer can be treated by freezing using a substance called liquid nitrogen or treated with drugs like Imiquimod which is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the use on superficial basal cell carcinoma.
A more extensive type of surgery might be needed if a lymph node is found to contain cancer cells following a biopsy of a suspect area. This technique removes lymph nodes close to the cancer along with affected skin and is frequently followed up with radiotherapy.
Another recent development for skin cancer treatment is what is known as immunotherapy cancer vaccination although research into this form of treatment is still being conducted and it is not yet widely available. You may be given chemotherapy if the cancer has spread into other areas.
There is no definitive form of prevention for skin cancer but there are a number of things which you can do to lessen your chance of developing the disease and the most important and generally ignored is to keep your skin covered if you are out in the sun.
All of us, regardless of the color or type of skin you have should use a sunscreen with a protection factor of at least 15. It is also a good idea to wear sufficient clothing and stay out of the sun as much as possible, especially between 11am and 3pm when the sun's rays are at their strongest. By the same token, it is not advisable to use sunlamps and sun beds as these too produce harmful rays.
Lastly, keep an eye on your skin and pay particular attention to any changes in moles and lesions. If changes are seen then you ought to see your doctor as soon as possible so that you can be treated while the problem is at an early stage
Here therefore is a brief outline of just some of the treatments which are typically used to treat skin cancer.
The precise treatment that you will receive is going to depend upon a number of different things which include your age and whether any cancer has spread to other parts of your body.
Your treatment may consist of surgery during which your surgeon may decide to remove the cancerous region itself together with some of the surrounding skin tissue. The amount of normal skin removed will be dependent upon the particular form of cancer found and how deep that cancer is. Usually an area of about one to two centimeters of surrounding skin will be removed.
Some types of skin cancer can be treated by freezing using a substance called liquid nitrogen or treated with drugs like Imiquimod which is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the use on superficial basal cell carcinoma.
A more extensive type of surgery might be needed if a lymph node is found to contain cancer cells following a biopsy of a suspect area. This technique removes lymph nodes close to the cancer along with affected skin and is frequently followed up with radiotherapy.
Another recent development for skin cancer treatment is what is known as immunotherapy cancer vaccination although research into this form of treatment is still being conducted and it is not yet widely available. You may be given chemotherapy if the cancer has spread into other areas.
There is no definitive form of prevention for skin cancer but there are a number of things which you can do to lessen your chance of developing the disease and the most important and generally ignored is to keep your skin covered if you are out in the sun.
All of us, regardless of the color or type of skin you have should use a sunscreen with a protection factor of at least 15. It is also a good idea to wear sufficient clothing and stay out of the sun as much as possible, especially between 11am and 3pm when the sun's rays are at their strongest. By the same token, it is not advisable to use sunlamps and sun beds as these too produce harmful rays.
Lastly, keep an eye on your skin and pay particular attention to any changes in moles and lesions. If changes are seen then you ought to see your doctor as soon as possible so that you can be treated while the problem is at an early stage
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YourCancerQuestions.com provides answers to not only your skin cancer questions but to cancer questions on a wide range of topics including lung, breast, liver, cervical cancer and much more.
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