Effective Treatments for Skin Cancer: Health Story

Aired on Lifetime Television

Sunday, May 21 and July 9
Show 313

More than 1,000,000 new cases of skin cancer are diagnosed every year in the US. Scott Newman was shocked to find out he had basal cell carcinoma. "I never burned, but I never wore sunscreen either," he says. Most common skin cancers are basal and squamous cell carcinomas which frequently occur on the face and arms. In the early stages, they can be easily cured, but malignant melanoma, is deadly. When treating cancer, Dr. Carl Schanbacher at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston says, "It's critical you don't remove too much normal tissue. You will have less scarring and better healing." He specializes in Mohs micrographic surgery where small sections of tissue are removed and examined under the microscope. "The microscope is important because you can see if the cancerous roots have been removed or not," says Dr. Schanbacher. "Changes in color or bleeding, anything that becomes painful or crusts, see your doctor immediately," he suggests. Even if you have had years of exposure, it's not too late to start protecting your skin!