Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States. Skin cancer treatments depend on the type of skin cancer, the progression of the cancer and the location of the lesions or mole amongst other deciding factors. The CentraState Skin Cancer Program provides skin cancer patients with state-of-art treatments as well as early detection technology included in our MoleSafe program.

Standard treatments for non-melanoma skin cancer (basal cell or squamous cell carcinomas) include:

• Cryosurgery or freezing—uses liquid nitrogen to destroy early skin cancers.
• Curettage and electrodesiccation—involves physically scraping away the skin cancer cells followed by electrosurgery, which uses an electric needle to destroy any remaining cancer cells.
• Laser therapy—uses a finely focused intense beam of light to vaporize the cancerous growth with little to no damage to surrounding healthy tissue.
• Mohs surgery—a procedure used for larger, recurring or tough-to-treat cancers, which may include both basal and squamous cell carcinomas. In this process, the skin is removed layer-by-layer. Each layer is examined under the microscope until no abnormal cells remain. It allows cancerous cells to be removed without damaging healthy skin.
• Drugs (topically applied retinoids, and in cases where the cancer is more advanced, chemotherapy may be used).

Standard treatments for melanoma skin cancer include:

• Wide surgical excision—removes the cancerous tissue as well as a surrounding margin of healthy skin.
• Sentinel lymph node mapping (for deeper lesions)—helps to determine if the melanoma has spread to local lymph nodes.
• Chemotherapy.
• Biological therapy or immunotherapy—uses substances produced by the body or similar substances produced in the lab to boost the immune system to fight the skin cancer.
• Radiation therapy.

For more information on the Skin Cancer Program at CentraState and available skin cancer treatments, please call 866-CENTRA7.