There are two types of skin cancer, the melanocytic (melanoma) and non-melanocytic (basal cell and squamous cell).The behavior of each one of them is very different, the melanocytic are aggressive while non-melanocytic are not.

The symptoms most common to diagnose this type of injury are changes in their aspect of the type of pruritus (itching), bleeding, coloration change, fast-growing, desquamation on its surface… In a circumstance of this type this lesion should be evaluated by a doctor.

NON-MELANOCYTIC CANCER

They are essentially two, basal cell and squamous cell. These types of tumors are from growth slow even if they are a type of cancer. These lesions have very little ability to metastasize to distance. The problem is that they grow in surface, that is to say, around its situation invading nearby structures. Although its growth is slow, a mistake in their treatment may result in that the procedure has to be more aggressive.

To eliminate these injuries, it should leave margins, minimum 2mm over its entire periphery. And, therefore, as important as removing the lesion is knowing and being able to close it. Sometimes it can not approach the edges of the incisions made and therefore we need skin flaps in their vicinity (rotation flaps) or even skin of a distant zone (graft) are needed.

MELANOCYTIC CANCER- MELANOMA

This type of cancer derived from melanocytes, the cells responsible for the color of our skin. For this reason, this type of injury usually pigmented lesions with changes in its color, appearance, edges…

The most negative aspect of melanoma is their aggressiveness. Therefore, the margins that must be eliminated along with the injury are superior to the previous can be up to 2 cm. Throughout, this type of injury requires good management of tissues by your specialist because it is very important to eliminate the lesion and surrounding tissues as a whole.

Sometimes, depending on the depth of melanoma is indicated to see the Sentinel lymph node biopsy in order to know if this melanoma has reached the lymph nodes or not. This test is not therapeutic but it is diagnostic to know in what kind of tumor we find ourselves and individualize treatment and prognosis.Google

What are cutaneous tumors? Images of cases treated in our clinic: