MOLE AND GROWTH REMOVAL

Moles are growths on our skin that can be present at birth or show up later in life. They can be light or dark, flat or raised and can be seen on any part of our body. They are sometimes removed by the dermatologist to make sure they are not cancerous but mostly they are removed for cosmetic reasons. The most reasonable removal methods are the shave technique and the full excision method. The first method is easier and tends to leave less of a scar. However, the mole may recur with this method. If full excision is used, the mole will not recur but stitches are usually needed. Some changes in a mole that would make a dermatologist want to remove it for analysis will be discussed below.

There are 3 common skin cancers, the Basal Cell Carcinoma (85% of skin cancers), Squamous Cell Carcinoma (10% of skin cancers) and Melanoma (5% of skin cancers). The Basal Cell cancers rarely metastasize (spread thru the body), the squamous cell ones sometimes metastasize, and the melanomas often spread thru the body and are deadly. Because more and more skin cancers are showing up around the world year after year, many different methods have been devised to catch them earlier and treat them in time to avoid complications. A worldwide campaign exists to educate the public what to look out for on their skin as well as how to protect their skin from the sun (which is the number one cause of skin cancers).

The ABCD's of Melanoma

Although no two melanomas look exactly the same, if people would look for changes in their moles such as Asymmetry, Border irregularity, Color variation and large Diameter (size), then we can catch these lesions at a very early stage.

Treatments for skin cancer range from topical chemotherapy creams, topical immunotherapy creams, radiation therapy, traditional surgical excision and Mohs Micrographic Surgery. If you have a suspicious lesion on your body, your primary care physician or your dermatologist will biopsy it. If it turns out to be skin cancer, the most experienced physician to treat it is the dermatologist. He/she treated hundreds of such cancers in their residency training and continue to treat them in private practice. Certain dermatologists are specially trained in the Mohs surgery technique which has the highest cure rate of all the skin cancer treatments. There are now Mohs surgeons in every large city in America.

There are many non-cancerous skin tumors besides moles. The dermatologist can usually tell what they are just by looking at them. That is what dermatologists are specialized in. Sometimes they will biopsy the lesion to make sure. Benign (non dangerous) skin growths can be removed by the dermatologist using simple, quick surgical techniques. It is rare to see much of a scar afterwards.

ABCD's of Melanoma Dr. Kay discusses the ABCD's of melanoma, as well as how you can get checked for and avoid skin cancer. (Quicktime .MOV streaming movie, 1 min. 38 sec., 2.7MB) Click to view movie

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