What A Dermatologist Wants You To Know About The Latest Skin Cancer Treatments

Lisa Mulcahy
·5-min read
<p>iStock</p>

iStock

If you've been diagnosed with skin cancer, you might panic and start thinking about telling friends and loved ones. That's a natural reaction to hearing you have cancer. However, the prognosis for skin cancer is often better than other cancers, like brain.

Consider these positive statistics: basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas, the two most common forms of skin cancer, are highly curable if detected early and treated properly. The five-year survival rate for people whose melanoma is detected and treated before it spreads to the lymph nodes is 94 percent, according to the American Academy of Dermatology.

Here's everything you need to know about skin cancer treatment, including how curable it is.

Related: Dealing with Weird Dark Patches? Melasma May Be the Culprit—Here’s What To Know

Is Skin Cancer Curable?

"Skin cancer is the most common of all cancers, but it is also the easiest to cure if diagnosed and treated early," says Dr. Vivian Bucay, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in San Antonio, Texas, and a spokesperson for the Skin Cancer Foundation. "When allowed to progress, however, skin cancer can result in disfigurement and even death."

The Skin Cancer Foundation recommends that everyone practice monthly head-to-toe self-examination of their skin. "Anything new, changing or not healing within several weeks could be cause for concern, so if you spot something on your skin, make an appointment with your dermatologist right away," Bucay continues. "See a dermatologist annually for a professional skin exam so that they can find any new or changing lesions that might be cancerous or precancerous."

The bottom line: You can have a good prognosis if you get treatment. And more good news? There are more cutting-edge treatment options than ever. Here's everything you need to know to talk with your doctor about which methods might be right for you.

Related: The One Thing Dermatologists Say You Should Never, Ever Do

Skin Cancer Treatment Options

To start, here are some widely available modes. These treatments are effective tools for the treatment of basal cell and squamous skin cancers.

  • Cryosurgery. Pre-cancerous lesions and small, early-stage skin cancers can be frozen with liquid nitrogen—the skin then comes off when thawing happens.

  • Excision. Cancerous tissue is cut out with a surrounding amount of healthy skin.

  • Mohs surgery. This type of excision procedure is best for big, recurring or difficult-to-treat skin cancers. A tumor is removed from your skin growth layer by layer; each layer is evaluated under a microscope to make sure all of the cancer has been removed.

  • Curettage and electrodesiccation or cryotherapy. Most of the growth is removed, and then any remaining cancer cells are scraped away using a circular blade, and an electric needle destroys any remaining cancer cells. Liquid nitrogen can also be used in this kind of scenario. A small study of 97 people found that both curettage and cryosurgery showed high rates of cancer clearance by the one-year mark, but that curettage had faster wound-healing times.

  • Radiation therapy. This therapy is helpful when skin cancer can't be completely excised.

  • Chemotherapy. For cancers limited to the top layer of the skin, your doctor may recommend a cream or lotion containing anti-cancer agents. Traditional chemo may be used for cancer that has spread.

  • Photodynamic therapy. A laser treatment that eliminates skin cancer cells is used with drug treatment.

Related: This New Breast Cancer Screening Guideline Could Save Millions of Lives—Is Your Doctor Doing It?

Cutting-Edge Biological Therapy/Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy uses the body's own immune system to recognize and destroy cancer cells more effectively. This happens through the use of specific drugs. Immunotherapy can be very effective in treating melanoma via several types:

  • Immune checkpoint inhibitors. New drugs have shown a lot of promise in treating advanced melanomas. "Checkpoint" areas in the immune system are turned on (or off) to start an immune response against the cancer. A very small 2023 study found that immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) had a high response rate.

  • PD-1 inhibitors. IV-administered drugs that stop PD-1, a protein on the T cells in your immune system. By doing this, PD-1 inhibitors boost your immune response to shrink tumors.

  • CTLA-4 inhibitor. Another drug treatment that boosts the immune response in your body. This drug blocks CTLA-4, another protein on T cells, and may help treat tumors that can't be completely excised by surgery or melanoma that's spread to other parts of your body.

  • Cytokines (interferon-alfa and interleukin-2). Cytokines are proteins in the body that boost the immune system--these IV drugs are versions of cytokines, like interferon-alfa and interleukin-2 (IL-2), and are sometimes used in patients with early-stage melanoma. Advanced melanomas may also be treated with both interferon-alfa and IL-2 can shrink advanced melanomas.  Following surgery for some melanomas, these drugs may prevent a recurrence in another part of the body.

  • Oncolytic virus therapy. Some viruses can be reformulated to infect and kill cancer cells—they're called as oncolytic viruses. Along with killing the cells directly, the viruses can also alert the immune system to attack the cancer cells. Also, talimogene laherparepvec is an oncolytic virus that can target inoperable melanoma in the skin or lymph nodes.

  • Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine. BCG is a germ that can activate the immune system by being injected straight into a tumor.

Related: A Dermatologist Is Begging You To Do This One Thing When You Get a Manicure

One More Possible Drug Therapy for Skin Cancer

Imiquimod cream. Imiquimod (Zyclara) is a drug that kick-starts a local immune response against cancer cells. It can be effective when used for treating very early-stage melanoma on your face and can also be used for some melanomas that have spread along the skin. Not all doctors prescribe it because it can cause reactions in some patients, so discuss this option carefully with your doctor to see if it might be right for you.

Also, talk to your doctor about clinical trials. Innovations in research are constantly bringing hope to patients with skin cancer. Ask your physician to inform you about and recommend trials that might be beneficial to you. Be proactive, and you'll give yourself the best possible shot at beating skin cancer.

Up Next:

Related: 20 Common Pictures of Bug Bites and How to Identify Their Symptoms

Sources

Latest stories