General Possible Skin Cancer

[Eric]

Went in for a small lesion on my chest today that's been around for at least the last year or so. The doctor said she believed it was condition called Actinic keratoses (pre-cancer) and used a freeze spray (cryotherapy) on it, saying to give it a few days and it should blister and fall off.

However, before she did that they took photos with a special camera and sent it to a dermatologist who said while they agree with the doctor, they still have some concerns and want to see me. So I'm in the process of a referral. It sounds like these things are generally treatable but I was hoping it would've been ruled out during today's visit.

 

[Cmaier]

Went in for a small lesion on my chest today that's been around for at least the last year or so. The doctor said she believed it was condition called Actinic keratoses (pre-cancer) and used a freeze spray (cryotherapy) on it, saying to give it a few days and it should blister and fall off.

However, before she did that they took photos with a special camera and sent it to a dermatologist who said while they agree with the doctor, they still have some concerns and want to see me. So I'm in the process of a referral. It sounds like these things are generally treatable but I was hoping it would've been ruled out during today's visit.

They didn’t take a biopsy?

 

[Eric]

They didn’t take a biopsy?

No, she said she would refer the image they took before the procedure to the dermatologist and let them reach out if they wanted to investigate further but didn't think it was warranted. I guess cryotherapy is standard procedure in this type of case.

The dermatologists office did say they thought it was benign but wanted to take a closer look just to be safe, maybe they will do a scraping then.

 

[Roller]

No, she said she would refer the image they took before the procedure to the dermatologist and let them reach out if they wanted to investigate further but didn't think it was warranted. I guess cryotherapy is standard procedure in this type of case.

The dermatologists office did say they thought it was benign but wanted to take a closer look just to be safe, maybe they will do a scraping then.

Cryotherapy is definitely an accepted way to deal with AK. Your physician should look carefully for other AK lesions. In fact, it’s a good idea for everyone to have periodic complete surveys for suspicious skin lesions like melanoma, which are curable if caught early.

 

[shadow puppet]

I hope you get the best results possible. Please keep us updated.

 

[Alli]

I go annually for a full body scan.

 

[Eric]

Got a call from the referred dermatologist today letting me know that they reviewed the scanned images and don't believe it's cancerous, saying it's either a benign lesion or precancerous Keratosis, which is also benign as long as it's treated before it grows over years.

So now I wait to see if the cryotherapy works and as long as it doesn't come back I'm done. Thanks for the thoughts, keeping fingers crossed.

 

[throAU]

Went in for a small lesion on my chest today that's been around for at least the last year or so. The doctor said she believed it was condition called Actinic keratoses (pre-cancer) and used a freeze spray (cryotherapy) on it, saying to give it a few days and it should blister and fall off.

However, before she did that they took photos with a special camera and sent it to a dermatologist who said while they agree with the doctor, they still have some concerns and want to see me. So I'm in the process of a referral. It sounds like these things are generally treatable but I was hoping it would've been ruled out during today's visit.

As a resident of the skin cancer centre of the world (Australia) - yeah so long as you catch it early, they just freeze/cut it out.

There's a few different varieties of skin cancer, the worst is a malignant melanoma - so long as you get it early before it spreads elsewhere, it's generally OK (know plenty of peeps here who have had skin cancer or suspected skin cancers removed). Best wishes and good luck!

 

[throAU]

They didn’t take a biopsy?

A lot of the time it's not worth it, they just cut out/freeze off as a precautionary measure anyway. You don't want to fuck around with skin cancer because it has a nasty habit of spreading to other organs if you don't get rid of it promptly.

It's a case of relatively trivial treatment to remove, vs. risk of misdiagnosis... at least here in Australia I can't recall anyone I've spoken to having a biospy. It's more a case of "that looks concerning, out it comes".

 

[Cmaier]

A lot of the time it's not worth it, they just cut out/freeze off as a precautionary measure anyway. You don't want to fuck around with skin cancer because it has a nasty habit of spreading to other organs if you don't get rid of it promptly.

It's a case of relatively trivial treatment to remove, vs. risk of misdiagnosis... at least here in Australia I can't recall anyone I've spoken to having a biospy. It's more a case of "that looks concerning, out it comes".

sure, but when i had a weird thing on my back, they removed it and sent it off to be analyzed. They didn’t just rely on photos.

 

[cbum]

they removed it and sent it off to be analyzed

That is actually very likely exactly was was done here.
I believe throAU thought you meant taking a Bx before the excision, i.e., to decide if you wanted to do the complete excision.
With Derm lesions, you can usually decide the approach without a preliminary Bx. That does not mean the excised tissue isn't sent to pathology for analysis, including assessing the resection margins.

 

[throAU]

That is actually very likely exactly was was done here.
I believe throAU thought you meant taking a Bx before the excision, i.e., to decide if you wanted to do the complete excision.
With Derm lesions, you can usually decide the approach without a preliminary Bx. That does not mean the excised tissue isn't sent to pathology for analysis, including assessing the resection margins.

Yeah that's what I thought - checking before removing - I thought biopsy was taking a sample to determine the treatment...