An Introduction To Skin Cancer Treatment
Author: Donald Saunders
Category: Health
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If you have received a diagnosis of skin cancer you might be unsure about the treatment that you will be receiving because, even if you have already discussed your treatment with your physician, you may still be confused by all the technical and medical jargon that was used. It is also possible that you may not have taken in the information because of simple shock following the diagnosis.
Detailed below therefore is a brief outline of some of the treatments that may be used when treating skin cancer.
The type of treatment that you will receive is going to depend upon a variety of different things which include your age and whether or not the cancer has spread beyond your skin.
Treatment could include surgery in which your surgeon could decide to remove the cancer itself and also some of the surrounding skin tissue. The amount of health skin to be removed will be dependent upon the specific type of cancer found and how deep that cancer is. Usually an area of approximately one to two centimeters of surrounding skin is removed.
Some types of skin cancer can be treated by freezing using a substance called liquid nitrogen or treated with drugs like Imiquimod which is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the use on superficial basal cell carcinoma.
A more extensive type of surgery may be needed where a sentinel lymph node is found to contain cancer cells after a biopsy of a suspect area. This form of surgery is designed to remove lymph nodes close to the cancer along with affected skin and is often followed up with a course of radiotherapy.
A recent development for skin cancer treatment is what is known as immunotherapy cancer vaccination although research into this form of treatment is still being undertaken and it is not yet widely available. You may be given chemotherapy if your skin cancer has spread into other areas.
There is no definitive form of prevention for skin cancer but there are various things that you can do to minimize your chance of developing the disease and by far and away the most important and generally ignored is to reduce your skin's exposure to the sun.
Every one of us, regardless of the color or type of skin you have should make use of a sunscreen which has a protection factor of not less than 15. It is also a good idea to wear sufficient clothing and remain out of the sun as much as possible, particularly between the hours of 11am and 3pm when the sun's rays are stronger. It is not advisable to make use of sun beds and sunlamps as these too produce harmful rays.
Finally, keep an eye on your skin and pay particular attention to any changes in moles and lesions. If changes are seen then you ought to visit your doctor as soon as possible so that treatment can be started without delay
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Keywords: skin cancer, skin lesions, carcinoma, melanoma, chemotherapy, radiotherapy
View Count: 430
Date Submitted: 1/21/2009
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