Skin Cancer Treatment

Handling depends on the type and stage of skin cancer. The main skin cancer treatment is surgery to remove cancer cells, especially in the type of melanoma.

In skin cancer melanoma type, treatment is adjusted to the stage of cancer. An overview of treatment for each stage of cancer is as follows:

Stage 1 and 2 melanomas can be treated by surgery to remove healthy cancerous and skin tissue around the tissue. This surgery is known as surgical excision. If the excision surgery is expected to leave a large scar, this procedure can be combined with skin grafting. Surgical excision has a fairly good success in patients with stage 1 and 2 melanoma cancer, which is about 80-90 percent. After surgery, the patient will be intensively monitored by health care workers.

Stage 3 melanoma can be treated by excision surgery on cancer tissue. To keep the cancer from spreading to other organs, lymph node biopsy may be performed. If the lymph node biopsy results indicate the cancer has spread to the gland, it can be surgical removal of lymph nodes to prevent the spread of cancer further.

Stage 4 melanoma occurs when cancer tissue has spread to other organs (metastasis). The goal of stage 4 cancer treatment is no longer to kill cancer cells, but to prolong patient life expectancy, slow the growth of cancer, and reduce the symptoms that arise. Treatment, among others, through radiotherapy or immunotherapy.

In non-melanoma skin cancer, treatment can be done through the following methods:

Surgical excision combined with skin grafts. The goal is to remove cancer cells and prevent them from spreading.

- Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) surgery. This method is used if cancer cells are feared to have spread or occur on the skin that is very important, such as the eye or nose area. In MMS surgery, the edge of cancer tissue is examined microscopically to make sure all cancer cells are completely removed. If cancerous tissue still exists, surgery is done again.

- Curettage. This method of treatment is applied to non-melanoma cancers that are very small. Here the doctor will perform cancer cancer network until the remaining healthy network, then do the burning (cauterization). The procedure of curettage method can be done several times to make sure no cancer cells are left.

- Cryotherapy. This cancer treatment method is done by using cold temperature to kill cancer cells at an early stage. In cryotherapy, patients will be given liquid nitrogen to freeze the cancerous tissue that causes the formation of scabs in the area. After a few weeks, the ulcer that contains cancerous tissue will then be released by itself.

- Anti-cancer Creams. The anticancer cream is used for the treatment of cancerous tissue found only in the upper layers of the skin, such as basal cell cancer or Bowen disease. There are two types of anti-cancer cream that is:

Chemotherapy cream

Immune-stimulating cream

- Photodynamic therapy. This therapy is used to treat basal cell cancer, Bowen's disease, and keratose asitinik. This therapy uses certain creams to make skin cancer more sensitive to light. After the cream is used, the skin is irradiated with strong intensity light to kill cancer cells.

- Radiotherapy. That is treatment through radiation method. This therapy is done if surgery can not be done or cancer has spread widely.

- Electrochemotherapy. This is a more complicated, but more effective, method of chemotherapy. Electrochemotherapy is applied if surgical methods, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy do not work effectively in removing cancer.

- Electrochemotherapy is performed by giving intravenous chemotherapy to patients, followed by shock delivery of electrode to the cancer tissue. The flow of electricity will facilitate chemotherapy drugs to enter into cancer cells so that cancer cells become more easily damaged. This method is usually carried out using total anesthesia to the patient, although in some cases, the patient is only given local anesthesia. Electroemotherapy procedures usually last for several hours and the results can be seen in six weeks.

Prevention of Skin Cancer

Here are some ways you can do to prevent the occurrence of skin cancer:

- Avoid the sun at noon. This step can be done by arranging an outdoor activity schedule during the day. UV accumulation of the skin in the long term can damage the skin and cause cancer. By avoiding sunlight during daylight, the accumulation of UV light can be reduced.

- Use sunscreen on a regular basis. Sunscreen or sunscreen can not absorb all types of harmful UV radiation, but can reduce adverse effects and damage to the skin caused by sunlight.

- Use clothes that can protect from the sun. Because sunscreens can not absorb UV radiation entirely, using clothes that cover the body, including the arms and legs, can provide additional protection against the harmful effects of sunlight. In addition, hats and sunglasses can provide more protection for the head and eyes of solar radiation, especially UVA and UVB.

- Avoid the use of tanning beds. Tanning beds used to darken skin tone emit UV radiation that can be harmful to the skin.

Be careful in using drugs with side effects on the skin. Some drugs like antibiotics increase the sensitivity of skin to light. If taking the drug with these side effects, should reduce the activity outside the room, especially at noon.

- Perform routine skin checks and consult the skin changes that are not reasonable to the doctor.