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Treating Skin Cancer (Non-melanoma)
Treatment for skin cancer (and pre-cancerous actinic keratoses) varies, depending on the size, type, depth and location of the lesions.
Surgery: this can take several forms. If the cancer is small, some doctors use a spoon like instrument (a curette) to lift tissue out, sometimes using electrical current to limit bleeding. If the cancer is larger surgery may take the form of excision followed by stitching. Sometimes Cryosurgery is used where liquid nitrogen freezes the tumour to kill it. Sometimes laser surgery will be used. Finally a type of surgery called Mohs surgery can be used (especially in the US) where sections or layers of the tissue are removed and each examined under the microscope. This limits the amount of the healthy surrounding tissue that is needlessly removed, and is most used with large tumours.
Cosmetic surgery may be recommended. This may be performed simultaneously, or at a later stage.
Radiotherapy: may be used in conjunction with, or instead of, surgery.
Chemotherapy: Occasionally, topical drugs containing an anti-cancer agent may be applied. For information on your Cancer Drugs and chemotherapy click here.
Photo Dynamic Therapy: This has also been used successfully. A photosensitive agent is applied and light shone on this agent. We have good articles on this non-toxic treatment elsewhere on the site.
Poultices: An old practice dating back to the Egyptians and Greeks. Herb poultices were applied to cover the local external cancer. We have experience of a lady who applied mangoustein in concentrated form as a poultice to her cancer and it cleared up in 6 weeks, just before the orthodox surgery date planned. The Hoxsey Therapy, which can be found in detail on this site, is a herbal formula and also successfully used to treat skin cancers. (Interestingly, one of his herbs was Red Clover now in tests art the Royal Marsden and other cancer centres as a way of combating oestrogen in breast cancer).
If caught early enough most skin cancers can be successfully treated.
Research covered in icons Cancer Watch did suggest that people who had had a skin cancer did, in subsequent years, have a higher incidence of other (unrelated) cancers than the norm. It is to be remembered that some factors like excess oestrogen can fuel the fire of skin and other cancers, and highlights the fact that a cancer appearing anywhere in the body is often a sign of weakness in the whole body.
Melanoma
Melanoma is the most dangerous form of skin cancer and its incidence is increasing. It develops in the cells that produce the pigment melanin. It can also form in the eyes Occular Melanoma. We have articles on that cancer too.
Melanoma is the most dangerous form of skin cancer and its incidence is increasing
Although widely believed to be Ultra Violet induced in the body, that myth is exposed by the fact that melanoma can occur, in rare instances, in the mouth, under nails and in the intestines (Mayo Clinic).
This cancer can spread to other organs. It is most likely oestrogen driven and really should be considered in a different light to the other skin cancers. It is thus a whole body disease that happens to appear first on the skin surface.
Diagnosis
Most normally melanoma involves changes to the colouration, size and/or shape of moles. But not exclusively. It can be just an unusual development on the skin. Most people have up to 50 moles, which come in all shapes and sizes. A cause for concern the larger, flatter moles with irregular edges.
The American Academy of Dermatologyhas developed an A-B-C-D guide for self diagnosis:
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A is for asymmetrical shape. Look for moles with irregular shapes, such as two very different-looking halves.
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B is for irregular border. Look for moles with irregular, notched or scalloped borders the characteristics of melanomas.
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C is for changes in color. Look for growths that have many colors or an uneven distribution of color.
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D is for diameter. Look for new growth in a mole larger than about 1/4 inch (6 millimeters).
Other suspicious changes in a mole may include:
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Scaliness
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Itching
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Change in texture for instance, becoming hard or lumpy
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Spreading of pigment from the mole into the surrounding skin
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Oozing or bleeding
Malignant moles vary greatly in appearance. Some may show all of the changes listed above, while others may have only one or two unusual characteristics. (Mayo Clinic).
Click here and read our article "What is Cancer"
Treatment
If the Melanoma has not spread, the treatment options are similar to those for skin cancers in general, and there is a high success rate.
Recent research covered in Cancer Watch suggested that the depth of the infected mole was an important determinant of the danger of spread.
Melanomas will be graded in Stages 1-4 according to level of spread. Stage 2 indicates that some spread has begun, possibly to adjacent lymph nodes. When your surgeon operates he may remove these too. (After treatment you may find Lymphatic Drainage techniques a great help).
Chemotherapy: Where there is spread to other tissues, Chemotherapy is the favoured option. Cisplatin, carmustine, fotemustine and paclitaxel are also used often in combinations. Dacarbazine is believed to be the Gold Standard drug with a response of around 20 per cent. However it has encountered some recent competitive criticisms in that its effects can only hold for 6 months. The brain tumour drug Temozolomide has also produced interesting phase III trial results research in the US indicates that it is just as effective and easier to administer. Recent clinical trials in the US also indicate that Tamoxifen and Genisense each can improve response rates. The Dartmouth regime used in the USA combines dacarbazine, carmustine, cisplatin and tamoxifen. While results seemed possibly better, the side effects have been horrendous in some cases. (Chapman et al. J. Clin. Oncol 1999; 17; 2745)
The Tamoxifen use is the interesting option confirming that this is very much an oestrogen driven cancer. If Tamoxifen is offered to you, you should note that its effects can be enhanced by total vitamin E (you can even use less tamoxifen according to clinical trials). You should also read our pages on Breast Cancer and our book Oestrogen the killer in our midst which will tell you ways of reducing the oestrogen levels in your body. See also Pillar II of the 4 Pillars of cancer. For information on your Cancer Drugs and chemotherapy click here.
Other treatment options and general points
Scientists at the Arizona Cancer Center report in Clinical Cancer Research magazine, 2004 that if you are sunburned you may develop actinic keratoses later in life, which may lead to lesions and even basal cell or non-melanoma squamous cell cancer later in life. Their study looked at Vitamin A (a good source is Fish oil, especially Cod Liver oil) and concluded that vitamin A supplementation at 50,000 IUs per day significantly reduced this problem, resulting in 81 per cent less long-term skin damage. (Be wary of using synthetic vitamin A which can cause liver problems with high doses).
If you are looking for supplements click on the tab at the top of the page and go to the Natural Selection shop where they have selected the best of the best and you can buy with confidence.
Dacarbazine, the current front line treatment for metastatic melanoma, has yet to show a real benefit in overall survival rates (Anns. Oncology 2006; 17 563-70) However no other drugs seem to improve the picture. Preliminary studies with dendritic cells loaded with antologous peptides had shown promise, but a recent Phase III trial says otherwise.
The National Academy of Sciences Journal (2005) reports that scientists have invented a vaccine (NY-ESO-VISCOMATRIX) which can be given to melanoma cancer patients every three months. The aim is to boost the immune system and stop recurrence or spread. Scientists in Melbourne claimed that 14 out of 19 patients were cancer-free two years on.
Immunotherapy is increasingly gaining interest where agents that will prompt an increased immune response are injected into the body. (See Dendritic Cell Vaccines )
Although Orthodox medical practitioners will cry in horror you can also read two Living proofs on this web site of women that cured their melanomas through Diet Therapies. One of those ladies, Beata Bishop, having tried all the orthodox options 22 years ago, went on to the Gerson Therapy and is now one of the UKs leading lights in the promotion of this treatment.
On this web site you will find more information about more treatment options (Complementary and Alternative, not just Orthodox), and on more possible contributory factors to the development and maintenance of your cancer, than on any other UK cancer web site. Some experts believe that approaching your cancer in this total way can increase an individuals chances of survival by as much as 60 per cent.
This is all supported by the very latest research evidence from all over the world in our news section Cancer Watch.