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Skin Cancer

What are the types of skin cancer?

There are numerous types of skin cancer. The most common types include basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma. These cancers are classified based on the type of skin cells that the cancers originate from: basal cells, squamous cells and melanocytes.

The most common type of skin cancer is basal cell carcinoma, making up approximately 80% of all skin cancers diagnosed in the United States.

How common is skin cancer?

According to the most recent estimates, about 5 million cases of basal and squamous cell carcinoma are diagnosed each year in the United States. Approximately 100,000 new melanomas will be diagnosed per year.

What are the risk factors for skin cancer?

There are several risk factors which make getting skin cancer more likely. The main risk factor is exposure to Ultraviolet (UV) light. UV light damages the DNA inside skin cells which can cause cancers to form. Other risk factors include lighter skin, hair and eye color, family history, older age, and having a weakened immune system.

What are the signs and symptoms of skin cancer?

Skin cancers in general will develop on areas of the skin that are exposed to the sun including the head, face and neck. Basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma appear in several ways. These can include pink or red bumps, pink growths with raised edges and open sores which do not heal.

Melanomas are usually caught when an individual has a new spot on the skin or a spot that is changing in certain ways. This is known as the ABCDE rule:

  • A is for Asymmetry: one half does not match the other
  • B is for Border: the edges are ragged or blurred
  • C is for Color: the color is not the same all over the spot
  • D is for Diameter: the spot is larger than 6 millimeters (~1/4 of an inch) across
  • E is for Evolving: the spot is changing in size, shape or color

If you develop any concerning spots on the skin of the head, face, or neck, contact our team at Endeavor Health Advanced Neurosciences Center. to book an appointment with our head and neck cancer specialists.

How are skin cancers treated?

The mainstay of treatment for basal and squamous cell skin cancers is surgery. The goal of surgery is to remove the cancer entirely with a small amount of normal surrounding skin (termed the margin). Surgery is often done with real-time margin assessment to ensure that no cancer is left behind. Following removal of the skin cancer, reconstruction of the area is performed. In more advanced cases, surgery can include lymph node removal. In rare cases, radiation therapy may be given after surgery if there are risk factors identified during surgery.

Melanoma treatment is generally begun with surgery to remove the cancer. Sampling of lymph nodes in the areas near the cancer (“sentinel lymph node biopsy”) is often performed as well to identify lymph nodes which contain cancerous cells. These lymph nodes are then removed. There are several medications which can also be used to treat melanoma which are classified as immunotherapies. These are administered by medical oncologists.