Skin Cancer #10 – Screening for Skin Cancer
Dr. Hadley King
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Dermatologist – Skin Cancer Specialist
Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in America. So how do you know if you have it?
While an abnormal growth on the skin might suggest a skin cancer, only a surgical procedure called biopsy can confirm the diagnosis. This is extremely important because with early detection skin cancer can almost always be cured. The first step to ensuring that cancer does not go undetected is to have your physician or dermatologist examine your skin at least once a year. People with a family history of skin cancer and those who spend excessive time in the sun are more arrest for developing the disease but anyone ca get it. So it is imperative to examine your own skin for warning signs every month.
To perform a self examination, stand in a well lit room. Examine the front of your body thoroughly. It can help to use a blow dryer to ruffle your hair and inspect your scalp. Use a hand mirror to inspect your shoulders, back, buttocks, and legs. Finish by examining your hands and nails. While you are examining your skin, look for changes in the appearance of any birth mark, mole, or blemish. Also watch out for any new growths. Non-melanoma kin cancers can manifest sores that does not seem to heal. A brown streak beneath the nail or a waxy scar on the body can also be signs of cancer and watch out for flat lesions that are hard to the touch or translucent growths with rolled up edges.
When performing a self examination pay particular attention to any moles on your body, moles maybe indicative of the most serious form of skin cancer, melanoma. If a mole appears to be asymmetrical or multicolored, if it grows in diameter or has irregular borders, it maybe a melanoma. It is not necessarily easy to diagnose skin cancer on your own. So remember to get your skin checked by a dermatologist at least once a year.
During your appointment, your dermatologist will examine your skin closely, possibly using a hand held microscope like device called a dermatoscope. If he thinks that a lesion maybe cancerous, he will take a biopsy. A biopsy is a fairly simple in office or out patient procedure. There are several different ways in which a biopsy can be performed but in general it involves naming the suspicious area and removing part or all of a lesion fro microscopic examination.
A biopsy is the only way definitively to tell a skin cancer is present. If your biopsy shows cancer cells, your doctor will discuss various treatment options with you. Remember skin cancer is usually curable if caught early. So stay up to date on the appearance of your skin and see your doctor if you notice any changes.
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