Diagnosis
How are skin cancers diagnosed?
- First before treatment can begin they affect area needs to have a skin biopsy done to ensure there is in fact skin cancer occurring
- This involves taking a sample of skin by injecting local anesthesia to the area and punching out a small piece of skin using a circular punch blade (This method may also be referred to as a punch biopsy)
- The skin that is removed is then examined under a microscope to check for cancer cells
- After a diagnosis of Melanoma skin cancer is confirmed, a second test is performed to see whether or not the cancer cells have spread to other areas of the skin or body. This is called Staging, and it is needed to plan the next steps of treatment
- Stage 0: the melanoma cells are found only in the outer layer of skin cells and have not invaded deeper tissues.
- Stage I: the cancer has begun to invade the skin up to the depth of 2mm’s
- Stage II: the cancer has invaded the skin of a depth greater then 2mm’s
- Stage III: is considered this stage if it has spread from its primary site (the site first diagnosed) to its regional lymph node (for example if the cancer was first found on the left foot, the regional lymph nodes would be under the left groin area)
- Or, the melanoma cells have spread to tissues just outside the original tumor but not to any lymph nodes
- Stage IV: the cancer has spread from its regional lymph node(s) to other internal organs