Skin Cancer and Alternative

Posted on | Monday, November 7, 2011 | 1 Comment

Basal cell carcinoma is the most common kind of skin cancer and accounts for over 90% of all skin cancer in the U.S. These cancers  never spread (metastasize) to other parts of the body. They can, however, cause destroy by growing and invading surrounding tissue. Squamous cell carcinoma is cancer that begins in the squamous cells, which are narrow, flat cells that look like fish scales under the microscope. Squamous cells are present in the tissue that forms the surface of the skin, the lining of the hollow organs of the body, and the passages of the respiratory and digestive tracts. Thus, squamous cell carcinomas can actually arise in any of these tissues. Squamous cell carcinoma of the skin occurs roughly one-quarter as often as basal cell carcinoma.

It is estimated that over one million new cases occur yearly. It's also been estimated that  half of all Americans who live to age 65 will create skin cancer at least one time. The most common forms of skin cancer are basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. They account for about 96% of all diagnosed skin cancers. Together, these are also known as nonmelanoma skin cancer.

But, Mohs surgical procedure is not the only way to successfully treat skin cancers? Surgical procedure on the nose, ears, eyelids or lips may cause disfigurement or require reconstructive surgical procedure under a general anesthetic to maintain the natural appearance. Brachytherapy with the Flexitron process is an effective alternative treatment for BCC (Basel Cell Carcinoma) and SCC (Squamous Cell Carcinoma) skin cancer and avoids the necessity for reconstructive surgical procedure. It also has its advantages over surgical procedure for patients with a huge number of lesions, elderly patients, or patients who are otherwise inoperable, and advantages over outside beam radiotherapy as it requires shorter treatment times and less side effects.

A surgical process that is often used to treat nonmelanoma skin cancer is called Mohs surgical procedure. This highly specialized surgical process involves first removing the visible tumor and then successive layers of skin after the other until microscopic examination no longer reveals cancer cells. This surgical procedure is performed while the patient is under local anesthesia. Removing and examining each layer takes about hour, with much of this time spent taking a look at the removed skin. When completed, the surgical wound is treated as needed. The treatment can include closing the wound with stitches, covering the surgical site with skin from another area of the body (skin graft), and moving healthy skin from a nearby area to cover the surgical wound (skin flap).

Comments