Skin Cancer

At Baystate Health, we offer comprehensive care for skin cancer including prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

We use an integrated team approach to treat all types of skin cancer. Dermatologists, pathologists, surgical oncologists, radiation oncologists, plastic surgeons, and other experts collaborate to not only treat the cancer you have today, but to reduce your chance of having skin cancer in the future.

Prevention

We want to help reduce your chance of having skin cancer in the future. Follow these tips to help prevent skin cancer:

Avoid tanning beds and overexposure to the sun.
Examine your own skin once a month for skin changes of any kind.
Protect your skin by wearing sunscreen with SPF 15 or higher every day.
Visit your doctor for regular skin cancer screenings.

Diagnosis

Baystate’s skin care experts have experience diagnosing all types of skin cancer, including:

Basal cell carcinoma
Squamous cell carcinoma
Melanoma

Our doctors use a dermascope to magnify the skin during examination. You may also have a biopsy to determine the type and stage of skin cancer.

Treatment

In most cases, surgery is the best treatment option for skin cancer. We offer the latest surgical techniques for skin cancer removal, including:

Skin biopsies
Wide re-excisions
Sentinel lymph node biopsies
Skin grafts
Lymph node dissections

Radiation therapy may also be used for certain types of skin cancer, including the latest treatment option, skin surface brachytherapy.

Depending on the type of skin cancer you have, additional treatment such as chemotherapy may be needed.

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