Advantage: Can often be very successful in treating some kinds of cancer if the
cancer cells are based in one small area and can easily be ‘cut out’ and any
surrounding tissue removed.
Disadvantage: This cannot be possible if the cancer has spread widely over the
body and therefore cannot be ‘cut out’.
Advantage: Basal or Squamous skin cancer can often easily be treated only leaving
a small scar easy to hide up.
Disadvantage: If the treatment is left and delayed the cancer can grow therefore
needing more and more surgery later in life causing more scarring.
• Advantages:
• Mohs allows for examination of all the boundaries of the removed
cancer and thus has the highest cure rate.
• Mohs allows for maximal tissue preservation, meaning that no skin is
removed than necessary.
• Mohs is typically performed under local anaesthetics.
• Disadvantages:
• Mohs is a lengthy procedure often requiring long periods of time to
complete.
• Often times the plastic surgery reconstruction of the Mohs defect needs
to be performed on a different day (for scheduling reasons)
Radio Therapy, also know as Radiation Therapy is a method of
treating cancer. It is often used merely as a palliative
treatment or right after surgery to prevent the re-growth. It
works by using radiation to damage the DNA structure of
malignant cells which in turn, will prevent their growth. Most
of the damage done to the DNA is by free radical’s mainly
produced from Oxygen. However larger tumors can often
outgrow their blood supply and end up in a low oxygen state
known as “Hypoxia”. This can increase a tumors resilience to
By up to 2 to 3 times normal amounts.
The initial discoveries in Radio Therapy were right on the
back of Marie Curies famous discovery of the radioactive
elements Polonium and Radium. For years, Radium was
used in various forms until the mid 1900’s when Cobalt
and Cesium came into use. However from the 1940’s
onwards, Medical Linear Accelerators were used almost
exclusively as a source of Radiation.
•Photodynamic Therapy is a type
of skin cancer treatment that has
been in development since the
1960’s.
•Photo reactive chemicals are
injected into the patient and
radiated with a light between the
wave length of blue and deep red
to activate the chemicals.
•The activated chemicals emit
free radicals which destroy
cancerous cells.
•Energy is transferred in the form of light via the intracellular photosensitive to oxygen
molecules. The oxygen then forms highly reactive intermediaries. These have a short half
life (fractions of a second) and thus have a very localized tissue damaging effect. The
energy involved is low (so that hyperthermia is unlikely) and damage to adjacent organs is
therefore unlikely.
•ADVANTAGES:
• Lack of scarring. This is unlikely as collagen and elastin are unaffected leaving organs
intact.
• Highly selective tissue necrosis
• Resistance to treatment does not develop with repeated treatment
•DISADVANTAGES
•It requires direction of the light to the appropriate site and tissue depth to be effective.
• It is complex requiring optimal light delivery with laser and collaboration and
coordination between clinicians.
• Persistent skin photosensitivity lasting weeks with some photosensitizes limits use.