Skin Cancer Detection and Dermoscopy

Skin cancer is the most frequently occurring of all human cancers and early detection is key in preventing premature death from them. While most doctors have been trained to look for common skin cancers such as squamous and basal cell carcinoma and melanoma much of the succinct features of these cancers are obscured by reflection, refraction, and diffraction of light. This leads to lowered diagnostic accuracy from naked eye only visualization and an overreliance on biopsy, which increases the cost of healthcare and incidence of side effects from surgery.

The doctors here have specialized training in the detection of these cancers and use a state of the art device called a dermascope. The dermascope has pure, bright light-emitting diodes, a magnifying lens, a cross-polarized filter, and an attachment for photography. The practice is variously called dermoscopy, dermatoscopy, or epiluminescent microsopy. In essence, it is a skin microscope with very bright lights and a polarizing filter that lets the doctor see what otherwise is not visible with the naked eye including vascular structures, arborizations, pigments, ridges, blotches, streaks, globules, and many other characteristics. The identification and recognition of these characteristics can aid significantly in the diagnosis of all skin cancers but especially the most fatal skin cancer, melanoma.

While the incidence of many cancers is falling, the incidence of melanoma is rising faster than any of the seven most common cancers. With early detection of melanoma before it has penetrated the epidermis (superficial layer of skin), survival is ~99% where it less than 15% for those with advanced disease at time of diagnosis.

If you have skin lesions you are not sure about, please let us check you out! It is ideal to have an annual skin exam and it is a crucially important part of preventive care. We will do a thorough exam, map and photograph the areas of concern, keep images to detect changes, biopsy or remove if necessary, or refer in our network of specialist cancer surgeons. Please don’t be a statistic; it may be the most important appointment of your life.