Nothing will ever replace educated medical diagnoses, but educating your patients is always a great idea, and especially effective in promoting skin care self-evaluation. Skin cancer is no longer a fair-skinned people’s disease. More of us are at-risk for UV exposure than ever before, and the CDC’s report released in June 2015 called for more community efforts to educate about and protect people from skin cancer. Two main types of skin cancers are non-melanomas (basal cell/squamous cell carcinomas) and melanomas.
Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC)
Basal cells are in the lower epidermis, where most skin cancers develop, and are often seen on the head and neck area. Basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) grow slowly and rarely spread. The diagnosis of BCC will be confirmed with a biopsy, and treatment options should be explained to your patient. Based on the size, location and depth of the BCC, your patient’s general health, and whether or not his or her appearance will be negatively impacted should form the basis for your patient’s preference and your recommendation.
Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Sun exposure, burns or chemical damage can cause squamous cell carcinomas. They rarely spread (but spread more often than basal cell carcinoma) and is frequently found inside lips, anus, vagina, outside mouth, and at chronic inflammation sites.
Treatment Options
In-office, outpatient treatments using local anesthetic for non-melanoma skin cancers include:
- Curettage and Electrodesiccation – For small lesions, scraping and desiccation with an electrocautery needle has a 95% cure rate. It’s not recommended for high-risk sites or aggressive BCCs, and leaves a visible, small white scar.
- Cyrosurgery – The use of extreme cold to destroy cancers is effective with early-stage and precancerous actinic keratosis as well as cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. The cure rate is 98%.
- Excisional Surgery – This old-fashioned scalpel-and-stitches surgery has a 95%+ cure rate. An additional procedure may be needed if the lab reports any cancer in the excision specimen.
- Mohs Micrographic Surgery – In this technique, layers of the epidermis are removed and examined under a microscope and repeated until the site is cancer-free. This saves a great amount of healthy tissue and has a 99% cure rate. It’s effective on large tumors around the face in critical areas: lips, nose, eyes, temple or scalp.
- Photodynamic Therapy – A light-sensitizing topical agent is applied to the lesion and the medicated area is treated by a blue light that destroys the BCC and causes minimal damage to healthy tissue. Can cause pain and swelling; cure rate is 70-90%.
- Radiation – This is ideal treatment for elderly or poor-health patients. X-ray beams are directly applied to the cancerous area; healthy skin is low-risk but cosmetic damage may occur in later years. The cure rate is about 90%.
Derm 101, 102
Energy-saving, economical, high-frequency desiccators are physicians’ and dermatologists’ choice for in-office skin procedures. Bovie Medical’s DERM 101 and 102 will save you and your patients time and money on minor dermatological non-melanoma cancer sites and skin tags.
FreezPoint
In-office cyrosurgery with the Bovie® FreezPoint™, when compared to other products, is cost-effective and patient-effective. It’s 62% colder – the application is able to reach -89° – than other multi-use disposables and, because of its slender tip design, aids to more thoroughly reduce damage to healthy tissue.
For almost 50 years, Bovie Medical Corporation has served as a flagship for medical device manufacturers and suppliers. We have an ongoing commitment to developing technology for advanced medical and surgical processes. Improved patient care for our clients and their patients is what drives us toward superior products and customer service. Call 800-537-2790 or contact us for more information.
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