Skin cancer procedures

Sometimes a small biopsy or sample of the tumour is taken at the initial consultation to confirm the diagnosis of skin cancer or melanoma. This is particularly likely if the nature of the tumour is not certain after clinical examination.

Your dermatologist may recommend a confocal microscopy consultation with one of highly trained specialists as part of your diagnosis. Confocal microscopy is a non-invasive imaging test that lets your skin specialist see your skin cells in very fine detail.

Mohs procedure is a highly technical, microsurgical technique invented by surgeon Frederic Mohs.  It is the most advanced and single, most effective procedure for removing Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC) and Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC) – the two most common forms of skin cancer.

When skin cancers are in particularly difficult or cosmetically sensitive areas, such as around the eyes, specialist plastic or oculoplastic surgeons will assist in closing the wound, along with your dermatologist. This ensures the safest removal of the skin cancers and the very best cosmetic result. This collaboration provides better outcomes and minimal inconvenience for patients.

Immunotherapy is a treatment for skin cancer which uses drugs that stimulate a person’s own immune system to recognise and then destroy cancer cells. The immune system can be a very effective defence against cancer and some of the latest advancements in treatments are based on using the body’s own defences to combat cancer.

Immunotherapy works by either boosting the immune system or removing barriers to the immune system so that it can be more effective at fighting cancer. Unlike traditional cancer treatments, immunotherapy does not kill cancer cells with an outside drug. The therapy is designed to alert the body’s own immune system to recognize and destroy cancer cells and has been especially beneficial for some patients with advanced or  difficult to treat forms of skin cancer.

There are different kinds of immunotherapy and they work in different ways. The most common are checkpoint inhibitors. The treatments retrain a patient’s body to do what it should be doing naturally.

Immunotherapy strengthens the immune system so it can once again see, recognise and hopefully kill the foreign invader that is skin cancer.

One of the advantages immunotherapy has is the body’s long memory. The treatment is augmenting the body’s natural way of fighting cancer and the immune cells stay even after treatment is finished. This can last for months and in some cases even years.

Immunotherapy is showing promising results for the treatment of melanoma and researchers are still hard at work learning how to maximize the benefits and minimize the costs. If you would like to know more about this treatment, ask your dermatologist