Skin Cancer or Lesions

Skin cancer requires quick and thorough treatment to prevent it from spreading and becoming worse, even deadly. Our goal with surgical treatment is to remove the entire mole or lesion that has been identified as cancerous to stop the spreading immediately.

Treatment Options

Once a patient has identified a lesion or mole that is concerning, a dermatologist may biopsy the area. At that point, the type of skin cancer is diagnosed and its size is determined. For some lesions, wide excision is then the next step in treatment. This can be done in the office under local anesthesia for smaller areas or in an outpatient surgical setting for larger or highly sensitive areas. The lesion or mole is excised completely and sent for pathology to determine if all of the cancer has been removed. In most cases, the margins or edges of the area removed are clear which means all of the cancer is removed and no further treatment is required. Usually, annual appointments with a dermatologist are recommended.

In some instances, the original tumor or mole is larger in size in which case a sentinel lymph node biopsy will be obtained. This is done at the same time as a wide excision in an outpatient surgical setting. This is to determine if the cancer has metastasized or spread. This will mean there will be two different incisions, one where the original tumor or mole is located and one where the sentinel lymph node biopsy will be obtained. Further treatment will be determined once the pathology results have been obtained.

Recovery

The procedures are quick and your incision will be closed using stitches. The area my be sore for a few days and you will need to keep it covered with a bandage.

You’ll receive a follow up visit 1-2 weeks after the procedure to remove the stitches.