Skin cancer is an abnormal growth of skin cells. It generally develops in areas that are exposed to the sun, but it can also form in places that don’t normally get sun exposure. Nowadays skin cancer is one of the routine problems which can be caused by exposure too much in the sun. Here we are going to tell you more about skin cancer different treatment.

Treatment Options Overview

There are different kinds of treatments which are differing from one patient to another. As we said, there are different types of skin cancer which basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, and actinic keratosis are some of them. There are 8 types of standard treatments which we are using to cure this disease:

• Surgery
• Radiation therapy
• Chemotherapy
• Photodynamic therapy
• Immunotherapy
• Targeted therapy
• Chemical peel
• Other drug therapy

Also, there are some other new types which are being tested in clinical trials and as soon as they are proved they will be announced as the new skin cancer treatment. You should know that the treatments may also have side effects as well. As we said there are different types of treatments which are available for patients who has the basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, and actinic keratosis. Some of the possible treatments are standard and some of them are not still approved.  Eight types of standard treatment are used:

The best way for skin cancer treatment is surgery

Also, the ways of treatment can be different due to different disorders. There are too many surgical procedures which may be used to treat the basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, or actinic keratosis:

Simple excision

In this kind of surgery, the tumor, along with some of the normal tissue around it, is being cut from the skin and removed.

Mohs micrographic surgery

In this kind, the tumor is cut from the skin in the thin layers. During this operation e, the edges of the tumor and each layer of tumor removed are viewed through a microscope to check for checking the cancer cells. The affected Layers continue to be removed until no more cancer cells can be seen.

Enlarge Mohs surgery

When it comes to enlarging Mohs surgery, there is some visible lesion which is going to be shown on the picture which has been gotten from the surface of the skin. There are some numbered blocks which are going to show the place which is going to be removed, this kind of surgery will be continued until the cancer is removed.

Mohs surgery

In this kind of skin cancer treatment in a surgical operation, the layer which is affected by cancer is going to be removed in different steps. First, a thin layer of cancerous tissue is removed. Afterward, a second thin layer of tissue is removed and viewed under a microscope to check for cancer cells.

Shave excision

In this kind of treatment, the abnormal area is begin shaved off with the small blade which is moving on the skin surface.

The Radiation therapy; easiest way for skin cancer treatment

Another therapy which we are using for this disorder is the radiation. This is the way in which we are going to use the high-energy x-rays or other types of radiation for removing the cancer cells, or even we can stop their growth. In this treatment there are two types of radiation therapy:

• External radiation therapy which they are going to use a machine outside the body which is sending the radiations toward the cancer cells.
• Internal radiation therapy in which the radioactive substance will be sealed in needles seeds, wires, or catheters that are placed directly into or near the cancer cells.

Chemotherapy

This is also another skin cancer treatment in which drugs are being used to stop the growth of the cancer cells. It is done by killing the cells or stop them from dividing. When these kinds of drugs are going to enter the body, the way can be the mouth or injection into a vein or muscle. The drugs normally enter the bloodstream and they can reach to the cancer cells throughout the body.

Photodynamic therapy

There is also another treatment which we call it PDT. This treatment is also using by drugs and certain types of laser which the light can be used to kill the cancer cells. This kind of drugs is not active until they are going to be in exposure to light. They are going to be injected in the vein or put in the skin. The drug will be collected in cancer cells more than normal cells. For skin cancer, laser radiation is going to be shine on the skin and then the drugs will be active and the photodynamic treatment will be started.

Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy is another treatment in which the immune system of the patients will be a boost to fight harder against the cancer cells. There are some substances which are made by the body or even it can be made by the body itself. This kind of treatment is also called biotherapy or biologic therapy. In this kind, the interferon is going to inject to the body and the topical imiquimod therapy may be also used to treat some basal cell carcinomas.

 

In brief…

If you are dealing with skin cancer, you should know that there are so many ways for treatment. If you are one of those who cannot decide about the type of their therapy, you may be informed about different types of treatment. You should know that among all surgery is one of the most frequent ones and also there are some therapies which are in trials and after their approval, they are going to be announced. Radiation therapy, Chemotherapy, Photodynamic therapy, Immunotherapy, targeted therapy, and Chemical peel are some of another treatment which we talked about 5 of them here. When you are going to visit a doctor, depending on the stage of cancer one of these methods are going to be used.