Skin Cancer

The Surgery Kincumber offers Skin Checks and Skin Cancer procedures, including biopsies and excisions, in our dedicated procedure room.

Which of these are cancers

Who needs skin cancer checks?

• People with fair skin
• People who have spent time in the sun
• People who have many moles
• People who have lots of freckles
• People who have previously had a skin cancer
• People who have a family member who may have had a melanoma or another skin cancer
• People who have had radiotherapy
• People who have had an organ transplant

What Happens at a Skin Check Consultation?

Just as the name suggests — check your skin. The doctor will greet you and ask a few questions to better understand your risk of skin cancer. Then it's the skin examination stage. You would need to undress, usually down to your underwear, and lie on a bed. The doctor examines your skin from head to toe aided by bright light +/- magnification. Some moles need to be felt by touching, to see if thick or raised. Each suspected mole is further examined with a special device called a dermatoscope (skin microscope). Sometimes photos of moles are taken and stored to explain to you or for future comparison for interval change.

What if I am not comfortable to undress?

Unfortunately a thorough skin examination would not be possible without undressing. You can bring your partner/parent/children if that helps. You can ask for a chaperone (usually a nurse) to be with you during the examination. Or you can elect to only have part of your skin examined, in which case potentially dangerous skin cancers may not be picked up. Contrary to some beliefs, a dress-penetrating camera is not used.

How often do I need a Skin Check?

It depends on multiple factors — your skin colour, sun exposure, age, number of moles/freckles you have. The higher the risk, the more often you would need one. Most people are advised to have a check once a year. Some may need 6-monthly checks. Some may not need a check for 3-4 years. You will be advised about your next visit during the consultation.

How do I prepare for a Skin Check?

Most often, you do not need any specific preparation, but some of these can be very helpful:

• Wearing clothing that can be easily removed and worn back can make the process easy
• Avoid wearing make up — some make up materials can be hard to wipe away and can make evaluating some moles very difficult
• Remove nail polish if possible — some nail changes from underlying cancers may not be visible if covered by nail polish
• If you had a fake tan, try to schedule a skin check 3-4 weeks after so the skin can be examined better
• If you have very dry skin, applying some good moisturisers can be helpful

What happens if an abnormal mole is found?

We will explain to you about the mole as to what it could be. Then offer management pathways such as:

• Asking you to self monitor until your next planned visit
• Come back for a follow up in an earlier interval e.g. 3 months instead of the usual 12 months
• Have pictures of the mole taken to monitor the progress
• Some moles can be treated with a process called Cryotherapy
• Some moles may need to be further ascertained by a process called Biopsy
• Some moles may need to be completely removed by a process called Excision

Will I die if I get a skin cancer?

Most skin cancers are slow growing and do not spread until they have become really big. However, there are some skin cancers such as melanoma that can be deadly if not treated — so they are not entirely harmless.

The commonest skin cancers are squamous cell cancers and basal cell cancers, then melanoma. Most common of the melanomas are early stage melanoma or melanoma in-situ. Most early stage melanoma, once removed, never come back. Generally once we find a mole is a melanoma, we almost always do a further procedure to take some more skin around it (Wide Local Excision) to make sure there are no more melanoma cells in the vicinity.

However, for some cancers, especially advanced melanoma, we would need to refer you for further treatment.