Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC)

BCC often has no symptoms and tends to grow slowly without spreading to other parts of the body.

Symptoms of BCC can include:

• a pearly lump

• a scaly, dry area that is shiny and pale or bright pink in colour.The most common form of skin cancer but the least dangerous.

Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC)

Symptoms of SCC may include:

• thickened red, scaly spot

• rapidly growing lump

• looks like a sore that has not healed

• may be tender to touch.

Melanoma

Often melanoma has no symptoms, however, the first sign is generally a change in an existing mole or the appearance of a new spot. These changes can include:

• colour – a mole may change in colour, have different colour shades or become blotchy

• size – a mole may appear to get bigger

• shape – a mole may have an irregular shape, may increase in height or not be symmetrical

• elevation – the mole may develop a raised area

• itching or bleeding.

Other symptoms include dark areas under nails or on membranes lining the mouth, vagina or anus.

Treatment

If we discover a suspicions spot during your skin check, we have a number of treatment options that can be discussed and performed by our skin specialist GPs. These include:

• Biopsy, excision and other surgical treatments
• Cryotherapy
• Curettage
• Non-surgical treatment of pre-cancerous lesions
• Skin flaps and/graph surgery repairs (performed by Dr Higgs & Dr Spencer)

Non-Surgical Treatments

Non-surgical treatments such as cryocautery-liquid nitrogen, electrofulguration and topical treatments can also be used.

CRYOCAUTERY (LIQUID NITROGEN)
Sunspots and a host of benign lesions, such as skin tags, warts and age spots can be effectively removed by spraying the lesion(s) with liquid nitrogen.

TOPICAL TREATMENTS
A large range of topical therapies, usually in some form of cream directly applied to the skin with or without special light(s), can be used to treat skin cancers and sunspots but NOT melanoma. The most effective are by prescription and vary with respect to efficacy, duration of application, healing time, side effects and cost.

Commonly used creams are Efudix, Aldara, Metvix, Solaraze, Salicylic acid, Lactic acid, Urea, and Picato (derived from a milkweed plant).

ELECTROFULGURATION
Diathermy, cautery, hyfrecation, electrofulguration or electrodessication use a high frequency, low voltage electrosurgical apparatus to destroy sunspots (actinic keratosis, solar keratosis) and some types of skin cancer. In certain situations, this is preferable to skin surgery or cryocautery. Cautery is also very effective in removing benign lesions, such as skin tags.

Skin Cancer Surgery

Our doctors are skilled to perform simple and advanced excisions including flap surgeries and graft surgeries under local anaesthetic at The Melanoma Centre.

SIMPLE EXCISION
The majority of skin cancers can simply be cut out (excised) using an elliptical excision, and the resultant wound or defect sutured (stitched) together. This is performed under local anaesthetic at Mosman Park Family Practice.

FLAP SURGERY
Some skin cancers cannot be easily removed using a simple excision with an ellipse. These may require a plastic surgical technique called flap surgery.

GRAFT SURGERY
Another plastic surgical technique, called grafting, may be necessary to close some wounds created by cutting out the skin cancer or melanoma. Skin grafting involves harvesting skin from a separate donor site and then transferring it to the site of the skin cancer excision (recipient site).

Counselling & Referrals

With considerable experience in diagnosing and treating melanoma and skin cancer, we are happy to provide a second opinion. We are also happy to provide counselling for advanced skin cancer and to discuss options for further treatment. These may include referral to specialists in the fields of dermatology, plastic and reconstructive surgery, general surgery, oncology, radiation oncology, haematology and genetics.