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Skin Cancer
Why choose us for skin cancer care?
If skin cancer affects your life, you can count on our experts. The highly skilled team of skin cancer doctors at Mays Cancer Center, home to UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson, includes doctors who have additional training through fellowships.
You’ll have access to the best available treatments, including sophisticated surgical procedures and cancer-fighting drugs. And with years of experience, both individually and as a team, we’ll tailor services to your needs.
What you need to know about skin cancer
- It is the most common cancer.
- More than 2 million patients are diagnosed with skin cancer each year.
- It occurs when a group of cells create a growth on the outer layer of the skin.
How to talk to your doctor about skin cancer
It’s natural to have many questions after receiving a skin cancer diagnosis. Our personalized approach includes taking time to answer these questions and explain what comes next. You might want to ask your doctor about:
- Further testing you might need to inform your diagnosis or lung cancer treatment suggestions
- Cancer stage, tumor size, whether it has spread and what it means for your long-term health
- Treatment options, including any lung cancer clinical trials you may be eligible for
- Side effects of treatment and how you can lessen the impact of side effects on your daily life
- Support to help you cope with the ways cancer may affect your mind, body and spirit
Bringing a friend or loved one with you to appointments gives you an extra voice in your care. This person can help you make important decisions and remember key details.
Skin Cancer Types
Symptoms
You can use the ABCDE method to help detect skin cancer early:
- A = Asymmetry - Is the lesion asymmetric with one side different than the other?
- B = Border - Is the border of the lesion very irregular?
- C = Color - Are there different colors within the lesion?
- D= Diameter - Is the lesion growing larger, - greater than 6mm.?
- E= Evolution - Is the lesion changing or growing larger?
Other warning signs may include:
- A painful, new, non-healing skin growth
- An itchy spot which then erods, bleeds or scabs
Diagnosis
It is very important for skin cancer to be diagnosed early. We use advanced, specialized technology that has reliable results and pinpoint focus. This test uses safe levels of radioactive substances to identify abnormal cell activity that may signal cancer. Your doctor will examine and discuss with you some tests to confirm your diagnosis.
Read more about diagnosing cancer.
Treatment
If we catch skin cancer in earlier stages, treatment often includes surgery. We may use other therapies to destroy remaining cancer cells and lower the risk of it coming back. For more advanced cancers, your care may include cancer-fighting drugs (chemotherapy) and cryotherapy instead of surgery. Get more information about cancer treatments.
A skin cancer diagnosis and treatment side effects can bring challenges to your life. Our team is here for you. We can help relieve discomfort and solve problems related to your care. Find out more about supportive care.
Research and Clinical Trials
Clinical trials bring innovative care options that are not widely available close to home. You may be eligible for clinical trials if you have a rare type of skin cancer or one that does not respond to standard treatments.
Read more about cancer research and clinical trials.
Mays Cancer Center is the only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in Central and South Texas, which gives you early access to clinical trials — some only available here in San Antonio.