Basal Cell Carcinoma
Background
Basal Cell Carcinoma is a type of cancer that grows on your skin. This type of cancer tends to grow on skin in places that have had a lot of exposure to the sun. Basal Cell Carcinoma is actually one of the least dangerous types of skin cancer. Basal Cell Carcinoma is usually very easy to catch and is easy to treat. “The tumors start off as small shiny bumps, usually on your nose or other parts of your face” (WebMD). They can appear on any part of the body but they generally appear on the face or another part of the body that has been exposed to the sun the most. People that are fair skinned are more like to develop Basal Cell Carcinoma. This type of cancer is unlikely to spread to other parts of the body. Usually the tumors just …show more content…
The many different treatment options are “based on whether the basal cell is high-or low-risk based on risk for recurrence. Other considerations include the patient’s age, general health, medical history, and cosmetic preferences” (Duong). Some treatment options would be curettage and electrodessication, cryosurgery, Mohs surgery, or radiation therapy. Curettage and electrodessication is the most common treatment option for Basal Cell Carcinoma. This is when the surgeon numbs the tumor area and then uses a semi-sharp instrument which has a spoon-shaped edge to scrape away the cancerous tissue. Then the area is treated with an electric needle to destroy any of the remaining cancer cells and to control the bleeding. Cryosurgery is when liquid nitrogen is applied to the tumor in order to freeze the abnormal tissue. Mohs surgery is used when there is a high risk of recurrence. This is when the surgeon removes the tumor tissue layer by layer. The surgeon is mapping and freezing each layer. They examine each layer for tumor cells under the microscope before proceeding to the next layer. This has the highest cure rate of all the