Skin cancer- melanoma?
Skin cancer melanoma can be best diagnosed by a board-certified dermatologist. Your dermatologist will:
- Examine your skin carefully
- Ask questions about your health, medications, and symptoms
- Want to know if melanoma runs in your family
If any spot on your skin looks like skin cancer, your dermatologist will first numb the area and then remove all (or part) of it. This can be done during an office visit and is called a skin biopsy. This is a simple procedure, which a dermatologist can quickly, safely, and easily perform.
Having a skin biopsy is the only way to know for sure whether you have skin cancer.
The tissue that your dermatologist removes will be sent to a lab, where it will be examined under a high-powered microscope. The doctor is looking for cancer cells. What this doctor sees while looking at your tissue will be explained in the pathology report, including whether cancer cells were seen. If melanoma cells are seen, the report will include many important details, including:
- The type of melanoma
- How deeply the melanoma tumor has grown into the skin
- How quickly the melanoma cells are growing and dividing
- If it’s possible to tell the stage of melanoma, the report will include this information.
It’s not always possible to determine the stage of the melanoma from the biopsy, and it’s essential to know the stage of the melanoma. The stage determines how to treat melanoma.
When the stage cannot be determined from the biopsy, your dermatologist will recommend more testing.
In some cases, the recommended testing may include a sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) to help determine the stage of melanoma.
Once the stage is known, the next step is treatment.
How is melanoma treated?
Skin cancer such as melanoma treatment is done depending on the following:
- How deeply the melanoma has grown into your skin
- Whether the cancer has spread to another part of your body
- Your overall health
Your dermatologist or oncology (cancer) team will consider the above when creating your treatment plan, which may include one or more of the following treatments. We’ll talk about the melanoma treatment procedures in our upcoming article.
Best skin cancer dermatologist in Charlotte, NC
When treating melanoma, doctors strive to remove all the cancer. When melanoma grows deeper into the skin or spreads, treatment becomes more complex. Many forms of treatments will be used as well to help kill cancer cells. Learn more about our melanoma treatment procedure by calling us today! Contact Dermatology Specialists of Charlotte, Charlotte’s top Ballantyne and Blakeney Dermatologist, for your dermatology care.