Posts Tagged ‘Skin Cancer’

Basal Cell Carcinoma – Treatment – a common type of skin cancer

Basal Cell Carcinoma is a very common type of skin cancer. It can take years to surface and spread and is typically of three types. Basal cell carcinoma usually looks like a skin condition, however only a good dermatologist can tell you if it is a cancer. And therefore one must go in for regular check ups to ensure that one can treat the cancer if a malignant basal cell carcinoma tumor is lurking underneath the skin surface.
If you are experiencing the symptoms of basal cell carcinoma it is important that you check with your dermatologist at the earliest. They will help detect the tumor and will prescribe treatment that will help kill the cancer cells. A few treatment options are highlighted below:

Curettage and Electrodessication: Curettage and Electrodessication involve getting rid of the tumor with the help of an electrocautery device. The treatment involves destroying the tumor and then scraping the surface with the assistance of a curette. Often one can differentiate the tissues as being diseased or normal simply by feeling the texture while scraping the area. The process is carried on a few times to make sure that the tumor has been removed in totality. However this process should only be followed for tumors that are relatively small – less than 6 mm as the procedure may leave a scar.

Simple Excision: As the name suggests this procedure is very simple and involves a surgical excision of the lesion and a little bit of the normal skin. This process as apposed to curettage and electrodessication is ideal for tumors that are larger about 2 cm in size. This procedure is usually used to treat tumors that surface on the forehead, trunk, legs or cheek. Simple excision is one of the most easiest and inexpensive procedures. However it is essential that one consults only a good surgeon as the difference between the diseased skin and normal skin has to be judged only with the help of a naked and experienced eye.

Mohs’ Micrographic Surgery: Only a Moh’s surgeon can perform this surgery. The Moh’s Micrographic surgery is a very special kind of skin surgery that involves removal of the tumor surgically and instant examination under a microscope to figure out the margins. This process ensures that if any residual tumor is left it can be removed immediately. Under this procedure, the microscope is used to examine residual tissues over and over again to ensure that the area is wiped clean of the tumor. This is one of the best processes as it is definitive and it is most likely that the tumor will not occur again. However it is a very time consuming process and a very expensive one too.

Radiation Therapy: Radiation therapy is ideally used for patients who cannot undergo surgery. The process is simple and involves a course of radiation to the area that has been infected by the tumor. Often the procedure is used for tumors that are in areas that are difficult to operate on. The process is not very popular and is often used only where the tissue around the area infected needs to be preserved such as the lip.

Cryotherapy: This procedure is ideal for small, superficial and well defined tumors. It involves freezing the tissue in liquid nitrogen to destroy it. Cryotherapy is used as a treatment for actinic keratosis, which is a premalignant condition. This is indeed one of the most effective and efficient processes to destroy the tissue. However it cannot be used to treat a large number of cases.

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Melanoma – Type of skin cancer

Melanoma is a disease of the skin in which cancer cells are found in the melanocytes, the cells that produce color in the skin or pigment known as melanin. Melanoma usually occurs in adults, but it may occasionally be found in children and adolescents. Melanoma may also be called cutaneous melanoma or malignant melanoma. Melanoma is the rarest, but most virulent, form of skin cancer.

- A flat or raised growth of black or brown color, often mixed with blue, red, or white parts, from 6 mm to few cm in size, may appear anywhere on the skin, in men mostly on the trunk, in women on the back and legs, and parts of the skin that are usually hidden from the sun, but were exposed to intense sunlight for short periods.
- Melanoma may show one or more of typical ABCDE characteristics: Asymmetry: one part of the tumor differs from other parts; Border of the tumor is irregular; Color: tumor may be of different colors, often several colors are present in one tumor; Diameter above 6 mm (in most cases), Evolving: lesion growths and changes color and appearance with time.

Melanoma Subtypes :
- Superficially spreading melanoma grows relatively slowly.
- Nodular melanoma grows rapidly – weeks to months. It tends to ulcerate and bleed.
- Acral lentiginous melanoma appears in dark skinned people (Afro-American, Asian, and Hispanic), mostly on their palms, soles, and under nails.
- Lentigo maligna melanoma. A macule grows slowly (years) as a patch, over 1-3 cm in size. It does not spread to other organs.

Treatment :
- Chemotherapy is often used to treat melanoma that has returned or spread.
- Medications such as interferon or interleukin, which boost the immune system to fight the cancer, may be useful in addition to chemotherapy and surgery. This kind of treatment is called immunotherapy. However, interferon has many side effects and can be difficult to tolerate.
- Radiation treatments may be used to relieve pain or discomfort caused by cancer that has spread.
- Cancer that has spread elsewhere in the body is sometimes removed with surgery to relieve pain or discomfort.

Squamous Cell Carcinoma – Type of skin cancer

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the second most common form of skin cancer and accounts for 20% of cutaneous malignancies.Squamous cell carcinoma frequently arises on the sun-exposed skin of middle-aged and elderly individuals.

- Squamous cell carcinoma arises from squamous cells in the uppermost layer of epidermis – stratum corneum.
- It appears as a scaly, reddish, dome-shaped, fleshy nodule, from 5 mm to few cm (if left untreated) in size, often with a central ulcer. It mostly appears on sun exposed areas of the skin or lips.
- It grows slowly, but it can spread to other organs.

Risks for squamous cell skin cancer include:
- Having light-colored skin, blue or green eyes, or blond or red hair.
- Long-term, daily sun exposure (such as in people who work outside).
- Many severe sunburns early in life.
- Older age.
- A large number of x-rays.
- Arsenic.
- Chemical exposure.
- Chronic skin ulcers.
- Actinic keratoses (These lesions have the potential to progress to squamous cell carcinoma.).
At first cancer cells tend to spread only as far as the nearest lymph nodes clusters of tissue found in the underarms, groin, neck, and other parts of the body that help fight disease. When cancer spreads, they often trap cancer cells. structures, which filter out and trap the cancer cells. If spread has occurred, the affected lymph nodes can be removed before cancer spreads to vital organs.
With early detection and proper treatment, SCC is curable. Allowed to progress, SCC can invade and destroy much of the tissue surrounding the cancerous tumor, which can be disfiguring.
Some SCCs, such as those that develop on a lip or an ear, can be particularly aggressive. Left untreated, aggressive SCCs have a greater risk for metastasis (spreading) to the lymph nodes and other internal organs. This makes early diagnosis and treatment of SCC essential.