Skin cancer prevention
Skin cancer prevention and -treatment are a major focus of our practice. Skin cancer is the most common cancer in Europe and North America.
There are two major groups of skin cancer:
- white skin cancer or non melanoma skin cancer, which comprises different types (e.g. basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma), and
- melanoma skin cancer.
Melanoma is one of the most dangerous types of cancer since it can metastasize at very early stages. In Germany, the occurence of this tumor currently doubles approximately every 10 years. In particular, patients with fair skin, many moles, and a history of frequent sunburns have an increased risk of developing melanoma skin cancer. This risk is further increased when close relatives are affected by melanoma.
Despite recent advances in the development of anti cancer medicines, early detection is still the most effective method to combat skin cancer. If early stages of melanoma are detected in time, this cancer is curable.
If applicable, we perform skin cancer screening for patients with many moles using computer-aided dermoscopy. With this method images of suspiciuos moles are captured by means of a digital incident light microscope and are documented digitally. This method greatly improves the accuracy of detection of melanoma skin cancer and its precursors.
The system allows patient and doctor to analyze suspicious moles together and, if required, to agree upon their removal.
