At Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center, individuals undergoing treatment for squamous cell carcinoma of the skin have the added advantage of working with a team of specialists in dermatology, medical and surgical oncology, plastic surgery, pathology and dermatopathology. The program also offers whole body photography to document and track skin changes.
Our multidisciplinary team will work with you to create a treatment plan that may include one or a combination of the following treatments.
Cryotherapy
After the skin cancer is surgically removed, the base and edges of the biopsy site are treated with liquid nitrogen.
Electrodessication and curettage
Involves removing the cancer from the surface of the skin with an instrument called a curet. An electric needle is used to then sear the base of the cancer.
Laser therapy
A laser is used to destroy small growths on the surface of the skin.
Medicated creams or lotions
For very superficial cancers, topical agents such as creams, gels or lotions containing chemotherapy medications are applied directly to the skin.
Mohs micrographic surgery
Mohs micrographic surgery offers the best chance for completely removing skin cancer while conserving as much healthy skin as possible. Mohs surgery uses microscopic guidance to decrease the likelihood of missing cancer cells not visible at the skin surface thus avoiding large incisions that unnecessarily remove healthy skin and result in bigger scars. Mohs surgery offers major advantages for patients including:
- Immediate microscopic evaluation during the procedure that confirms that the skin cancer is completely removed
- The highest published cure rates for many forms of skin cancer, making it less likely the cancer may grow back. The rate of cancer recurrence for patients who have their cancer removed using Mohs surgery is just 2 percent, compared to 10 percent for patients who do not have the procedure
- Maximal preservation of healthy skin for the best possible cosmetic and functional results
- The precision of Mohs surgery is especially useful for the treatment of skin cancers that exhibit the following appearance or characteristics:
- Large in size
- Poorly defined edges
- Skin cancer that returns after previous treatments
- Skin cancer located on areas of the body where it is critical to keep the surgical incision as small as possible to obtain excellent cosmetic and functional outcomes
- Patients with skin cancer of the face, head or neck may require Mohs and reconstructive surgery.
Photodynamic therapy
A photosensitizing agent is applied to the skin. Then, an intense beam of light is used to destroy the skin cancer cells.
Radiation therapy
Stops cancer cells from dividing and growing, thus slowing or stopping tumor growth. In many cases, radiation therapy is capable of killing all of the cancer cells in a specific location. Radiation therapy may be the primary treatment of choice for select patients who are not surgical candidates, either because of the size or location of the lesion or other physical limitations.
Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT)
IGRT uses frequent imaging during a course of radiation therapy to improve the precision and accuracy of the delivery the radiation treatment. In IGRT, the linear accelerators (machines that delivers radiation) are equipped with imaging technology that take pictures of the tumor immediately before or even during the time radiation is delivered. Specialized computer software compares these images of the tumor to the images taken during the simulation to establish the treatment plan. Necessary adjustments can then be made to the patient's position and/or the radiation beams to more precisely target the tumor and avoid the healthy surrounding tissue.
Simple excision
Surgery is performed to remove the cancerous tissue and a small surrounding area of healthy skin.