How is Skin Cancer Diagnosed?
To diagnose skin cancer, your doctor may:
- Examine your skin with the naked eye or with a dermoscope/ dermatoscope
- Take a small sample of the suspected skin lesion (incision biopsy) and send it to the laboratory for analysis
- Proceed with further tests to determine the cancer type and stage
- Remove the entire lesion (excision biopsy) and send it to the laboratory for analysis
Treatments:
- Freezing (cryosurgery): smaller skin lesions – actinic keratoses or superficial tumors – are frozen using liquid nitrogen
- Surgery (surgical excision): cancerous tissue, plus a surrounding margin of healthy skin, is cut away
- Mohs surgery: skin abnormal cells are removed layer by layer, under the microscope. This is used on sensitive sites, such as the face and eyelids
- Shave biopsy (curettage & cautery): cancer cells are scraped off with a medical instrument called a curette. Then the wound is sealed with an electric cautery device to destroy any remaining cancer cells
- Radiation therapy: radiation may be used in situations where surgery is not an option
- Chemotherapy: cancer cells are killed with drugs
- Photodynamic therapy: a combination of red light and drugs make cancer cells more vulnerable to treatment
- Biological treatment: the immune system is stimulated to kill cancer cells (e.g. with interferon)
Ask a dermatologist today!
