Treatment of Skin Cancer is dependent on type of cancer, location of the cancer, age of the patient, and if the cancer is primary or recurrence. One should look at the specific type of skin cancer (basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, or melanoma) of concern in order to determine the correct treatment required. An example would be a small basal cell cancer on the cheek of a young man, where the treatment with the best cure rate (Mohs surgery) might be indicated. In the case of an elderly frail man with multiple complicating medical problems, a difficult to excise basal cell cancer of the nose might warrant radiation therapy (slightly lower cure rate) or no treatment at all. Topical chemotherapy might be indicated for large superficial basal cell carcinoma for good cosmetic outcome, whereas it might be inadequate for invasive nodular basal cell carcinoma or invasive squamous cell carcinoma.

Some of the common methods of skin cancer treatment are:

1. Surgery is known to provide a quick and easy method in order to remove the skin cancer. During this process, the skin cancer will be cut out and the recovery process will be extremely short.

2. One of the special types of skin cancer treatment is Mohs surgery and it aims at removing the absolute lowest about of healthy tissue and every single piece of cancerous tissue. Mohs surgery is the absolute best option whenever the doctor is apprehensive on the depth and shape of the tumor. Mohs surgery is also used for treating large tumors and recurring cancers within places that are hard-to-treat. However, you should know that this particular type of surgery may only be performed by doctors that are specifically trained.

3. Curettage is another popular skin cancer treatment method and it is where the skin cancer is scooped right out by using a curette, this is a very sharp instrument that has an end shaped like a spoon. Once all of this is done, the area needs to be treated with electrodessication which is where the electric current is being used in order to kill all of the cancer cells that remain around all of the edges of the wound and for controlling the bleeding.

4. Another skin cancer treatment method is laser therapy and it is used for treating cancer that involves the skins outer later by using a narrow light beam to destroy or remove the cancer cells.

For low-risk disease, radiation therapy, topical chemotherapy (imiquimod or 5-fluorouracil) and cryotherapy (freezing the cancer off) can provide adequate control of the disease; both, however, may have lower overall cure rates than certain type of surgery. Other modalities of treatment such as photodynamic therapy, topical chemotherapy, electrodessication and curettage can be found in the discussions of basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.

Mohs' micrographic surgery (mohs surgery) is a technique used to remove the cancer with the least amount of surrounding tissue and the edges are checked immediately to see if tumor is found. This provides the opportunity to remove the least amount of tissue and provide the best cosmetically favorable results. This is especially important for areas where excess skin is limited, such as the face. Cure rates are equivalent to wide excision. Special training is required to perform this technique.

In the case of disease that has spread (metastasized), further surgical procedures or chemotherapy may be required.

Scientists have recently been conducting experiments on what they have termed "immune- priming". This therapy is still in its infancy but has been shown to effectively attack foreign threats like viruses and also latch onto and attack skin cancers. More recently researchers have focused their efforts on strengthening the body's own naturally produced "helper T cells" that identify and lock onto cancer cells and help guide the killer cells to the cancer. Researchers infused patients with roughly 5 billion of the helper T cells without any harsh drugs or chemotherapy. This type of treatment if shown to be effective has no side effects and could change the way cancer patients are treated.

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