Skin Cancer And Mohs Surgery

Discuss the different types of skin cancer, risk factors, diagnosis, treatment options and preventative measures.

The dermatologist removes the visible area of melanoma and then starts removing the skin beneath it a layer at a time. Each layer is examined under a microscope and when a layer is found to be free from cancer cells, the surgery is stopped. The benefit of this type of surgery is that the least amount of tissue is removed. This is a preferable approach when removing skin cancer on your face.

There has been cases where places on your body that don't receive exposure to sunlight has been diagnosed with melanoma. The damage of skin may take place in the few years before the start of the cancer. Children and young adults often get sun exposure that might not result in cancer until many years later. The epidemiology of melanoma is diagnosed at 70 percent of curable stages. However, if melanoma is diagnosed later, the patient has a decreased chance of living. An estimated incidence rate of melanoma has been 3–7% per year for Caucasians. Melanoma is the fifth most common cancer in men and the seventh in women. The pathogenesis of this disease is a neoplasm of melanocytes or a neoplasm of the cells that develop from melanocytes. The treatment for melanoma can be done in stages. Stage zero is a surgery to remove the area of abnormal cells and a small amount of normal tissue around it. Next, stage one of the treatment is having surgery to remove the tumor and some of the normal tissue around it. Stage two of treatment finding the lymph nodes and taking a biopsy. If cancer is found in the sentinel lymph node, a second surgery would need to be carried out to remove more nearby lymph nodes. Then, for stage three, a doctor may take skin grafts to cover the

In 2011, there was an estimated 65,647 patients diagnosed with melanoma, and 9,128 deaths from melanoma in the United States.[1] Rates for new melanoma of the skin have been rising on average 1.8% each year from 2002 to 2011.[2] It has been estimated that 1 in 75 persons born in the year 2000 will develop melanoma of the skin during their lifetime.[3] Like most cancers, the outcome of melanoma depends on the stage at diagnosis, which makes the early detection and treatment of melanoma important.[4] However, in the United States approximately 80% of biopsies performed in a primary care setting are benign.[5] Technologies such as RCM may have the ability to reduce invasive diagnostic procedures such as a biopsy or excision associated with

Excision: surgically cuts out the skin cancer and a small amount of normal-looking skin. This normal-looking skin is called a margin.

Looking at your own lifestyle, heredity, risk factors, etc - what type(s) of cancer are you at risk of developing and why are you at risk?

There are two types of drugs, and four types of surgeries. Possible types of surgeries include Freezing, Mohs surgery, Surgical Excision, and Electrodesiccation and curettage (ED&C). Possible types of drugs include Topical treatments, and Medication for advanced cancer. Freezing involves “killing cancerous cells by freezing them with liquid nitrogen” (mayoclinic.org). Mohs surgery involves the doctor “removing cancer cells layer by layer”, and “examining each layer under microscope until no cancer cells remain” (mayoclinic.org). Surgical Excision involves the doctor cutting out the cancerous lesion and some healthy surrounding skin. ED&C involves “removing the surface of the skin cancer, and then searing the base of the cancer with an electric needle to control bleeding and kill cancer cells” (mayoclinic.org).Topical treatments include imiquimod, and fluorouracil and are applied to the affected area for several weeks. Medication for advanced cancer is used only on metastatic BCC and includes medications such as vismodegib, or sonidegib, which block molecular signals that enable BCCs to continue growing.

Imagine losing a loved one to skin cancer and having to go through the grief, knowing it could have been prevented. “Each year in the U.S. over 5.4 million cases of nonmelanoma skin cancer are treated in more than 3.3 million people” and “an estimated 76,380 new cases of invasive melanoma will be diagnosed in the U.S. in 2016” (“Skin Cancer Foundation”). Melanoma is the most deadly and aggressive skin cancer. One person dies every hour from melanoma and more people have been diagnosed with skin cancer over the last 30 years than all other cancers put together (“Skin Cancer, Melanoma-What Happens”). People are affected physically and mentally, throughout the diagnosis and treatments the patient has

Developing Personal Skills: it develops personal skills by informing the community of the risk regarding excess sun exposure and what the underlying facts are about skin cancer. The campaign shows ways on how to prevent skin cancer and what you should do in order of prevention. The campaign also shows representations of the appearance of the cancer and how it looks when it is removed as well as providing information on how the incidence of skin cancer within Australia is very high.

Skin cancer is a growing issue globally, but specifically in Australia with an estimated two in three Australians being diagnosed with skin cancer by the time they are seventy (Understanding Skin Cancer: A guide for people with cancer, their families and friends, 2016). ‘Skin cancer' is a term incorporating three different types of cancer found in the epidermis layer of the skin, in either the basal cells, squamous cells or melanocytes. Thus, the type of cell they are found in determines the type of skin cancer present; basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma or melanoma respectively (Understanding Skin Cancer: A guide for people with cancer, their families and friends, 2016). The most

Mohs microscopic surgery (MMS) is still perceived as a somewhat unfamiliar and unknown treatment option to many patients with melanoma. Wide local excision (WLE) has been the standard treatment option until the recent years, with emergence of multiple literatures that have shown successful treatment of melanoma cases, presenting with high cure rate and low recurrence rate. However, variations among many physicians and practices still exist due to a lack of strict criteria and guidelines in using MMS. These variations are problematic because they can lead to financial burden for patients and inconvenience of multiple surgeries that can be avoidable1. To be able to improve the quality of patient care, a strict criteria and guidelines must

Mayo Clinic. (2011, April 21). Surgical oncology and melanoma - Mayo Clinic [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL4dIlfWUI4

One of the leading causes of death in the United States is cancer. Staggering cases have been reported yearly. There have been over 3.3 million diagnoses of Non Melanoma skin cancer. Currently, it is estimated that one out of every five Americans will develop skin cancer in their lifetime. People in the U.S. are diagnosed with skin cancer every day. The number of cases of skin cancer has increased steadily since the 1920s. Common types of skin cancer include: Basal cell carcinoma, Squamous cell carcinoma, and Malignant Melanoma. It’s imperative to stay educated about our health and take preventive measures to decrease the chances of developing skin cancer.

Cancer is a disease that affects the lives of so many people. Everyone probably knows a person that is or has been afflicted by this monster, whether it is a family member, friend, or neighbor. There are many different forms of cancer including breast cancer, leukemia, lung cancer…the list goes on. One form of cancer that hits home for myself and my family is skin cancer as we have had some family members and other family friends taken away from skin cancer. There are many different forms of skin cancer; it can be minor or very aggressive depending upon which type one has. Specifically, this paper will focus on discussing the most dangerous form of skin cancer, melanoma.

Thesis: Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the United States but is highly curable if detected early and treated properly.