4 Skin Cancer Treatments

It's important to examine your body regularly to look for cancerous lesions, especially if you have a family history of skin cancer. Skin cancer can be serious, especially if it spreads throughout your body. Your dermatologist can offer skin cancer treatments to remove cancerous cells from your body. Here are four skin cancer treatments that are available to patients:

1. Liquid Nitrogen

Liquid nitrogen is commonly used on small cancerous lesions that do not require a biopsy. Your doctor will apply liquid nitrogen to the affected area in a procedure called cryosurgery. The cold temperature will freeze your skin tissues, starting a process of necrosis. Over the next week, those dead skin cells will fall away, removing the cancer with them. You may feel some pain when undergoing cryosurgery, but over-the-counter pain medication can help you manage your discomfort.

2. Excision Surgery

Excision surgery is an option for people who require biopsies. Your dermatologist will start by cleaning the surgical site and injecting lidocaine into your skin to numb it. Once the anesthesia has taken effect, your dermatologist will remove the cancerous part of your skin using a scalpel. You will be given stitches, and the excised skin will be sent to a laboratory for testing.

3. Mohs Surgery

Mohs surgery is often used on patients' hands and faces, two highly visible areas where more aggressive excision surgery is not advisable. Mohs surgery is a type of excision surgery that is performed in stages. Your doctor will cut your skin away in small layers, sending each layer for lab testing as they work. Your surgery will conclude when the last sample sent to the lab contains no skin cancer.

Mohs surgery allows dermatologists to ensure the removal of all cancer from your body. It allows your doctor to be very precise during the surgery, which can lead to less visible scarring. Mohs surgery can take several hours, so make sure to clear your schedule ahead of time. Like general excision surgery, Mohs surgery is performed using local anesthesia.

4. Radiation Therapy

If your dermatologist suspects that your skin cancer has spread, they will biopsy a lymph node that is close to the site of your cancer. If cancer is found in the node, then the cancer has metastasized. Metastatic skin cancer must be treated aggressively to preserve your health. Your doctor may suggest radiation therapy to kill the cancerous cells found throughout your body.