Skin Cancer - Treatments

Your treatment for skin cancer will depend on a number of factors such as your age and whether the cancer has spread and if so, how far. There are a number of treatments which are described below. Your doctor will advise you on which is best for you.

Surgery

Your doctor will remove the cancer and some of the healthy skin surrounding it. The amount of healthy skin will vary depending on the type of cancer and how deep it is in your skin - it can be 2 to 3cm (about an inch) around where the cancer is.

Your doctor will examine your lymph nodes before surgery. If he or she suspects that they may be cancerous you may need more extensive surgery. This will remove the lymph nodes near to the cancer as well as the affected skin.

Skin cancers such as basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) can also be destroyed by freezing them with liquid nitrogen. SCCs can be treated by other methods including using a prescribed cream called imiquimod (Aldara).

Non-surgical treatments

Radiotherapy may be used as an adjunct to surgery but it's usually used only if surgery is not possible.

Your doctor may recommend immunotherapy if there is a strong chance that your cancer will come back. Immunotherapy medicines, such as interferon alpha-2b (eg IntronA), help your immune system fight the cancer.

A more recent development in immunotherapy is cancer vaccines, however they are only used in research trials at present and aren't widely available.

If the cancer has spread, you may be given chemotherapy.