Will I Need Chemotherapy For Basal Cell Carcinoma
Basal cell carcinoma, a type of nonmelanoma skin cancer, is very common and affects people of various age groups. If you have been diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma, you probably have questions about your next steps and what treatments can be used to address this type of cancer.
Every patient is different and requires an individualized treatment plan. With this said, chemotherapy is rarely used to eradicate basal cell carcinoma. This systemic treatment involves administering medicine into the bloodstream to attack cancer cells throughout the body. Because basal cell carcinoma usually affects an isolated area and seldom reaches an advanced stage, a systematic approach to treatment is typically not necessary.
Hair Care During Chemotherapy
Why do some chemotherapy patients lose their hair, not just on the scalp, but also on their eyebrows, eyelashes, and the rest of their bodies?
âMany of the drugs work by attacking the rapidly dividing cells in the body, and tumor cells or cancer cells are rapidly dividing cells,â Ades says. âBut there are normal cells in the body that are also rapidly dividing, and the chemotherapy drugs affect those normal cells as well, which gives us side effects.â Because hair follicles divide fast, theyâre also susceptible.
Some chemo drugs are more likely than others to cause hair loss, Lacouture says. Ask your doctor about the likelihood of hair loss before you start your treatment, so you are prepared and know what you may expect. After chemotherapy begins, any hair loss usually progresses quickly.
âGenerally, patients notice it when they wake up in the morning and they look at their pillow. Theyâll see hair on their pillow,â Ades says. âThen theyâll start brushing it and noticing that it comes out in clumps.â
âItâs emotionally challenging for someone who is losing their hair,â she says. Ades adds that once a person takes steps such as wearing a wig or cap to feel more attractive, self-esteem may improve. Ades offers these additional tips on dealing with chemo-related hair loss:
See A Suspicious Spot See A Dermatologist
If you find a spot on your skin that could be skin cancer, its time to see a dermatologist. Found early, skin cancer is highly treatable. Often a dermatologist can treat an early skin cancer by removing the cancer and a bit of normal-looking skin.
Given time to grow, treatment for skin cancer becomes more difficult.
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Efudex Topical Cream For The Treatment Of Skin Cancer
Topical cream is a common treatment for basal cell carcinoma, the most common type of skin cancer worldwide. If your doctor has prescribed Efudex , one such option, it’s important that you learn more about the drug so you can ensure that you are using it both safely and effectively.
Fluorouracil is available as a generic, and also goes by the brand names Tolak, Carac, and Fluoroplex.
What Can People Use The Cream For
Topical chemotherapys main uses include the following:
- Preventing skin cancer: Certain conditions, such as actinic keratosis, may become cancerous. Doctors sometimes prescribe ointment as an alternative to surgery to prevent cancer. They may also suggest chemotherapy cream to treat large areas of sun-damaged skin with many precancers.
- Treating skin cancer:Some superficial forms of squamous cell and basal cell carcinoma may respond to chemotherapy cream.
- Treating skin manifestations of other cancers: Some cancers that most people do not think of as skin cancer can affect the skin. For example, T cell lymphoma can cause mycosis fungoides on the skin. An older
- 2013 review looked at the use of chemotherapy cream to treat nonmelanoma skin cancers. With imiquimod, cure rates were 65100%. Cure rates with 5FU cream were 6192%. Keratoacanthoma, which is a type of squamous cell carcinoma, had the highest cure rate with chemotherapy cream. Methotrexate cured 91% of cancers, compared with a higher cure rate of 98% for 5FU cream.
- A 2019 study suggested that chemotherapy cream, when a person uses it with other treatments, can reduce the risk of developing skin cancer. For example, doctors may prescribe 5FU cream to people with actinic keratosis, which is a type of sun-related skin damage that can lead to skin cancer.
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How Will I Know If My Chemotherapy Is Working
You will see your doctor often. During these visits, she will ask you how you feel, do a physical exam, and order medical tests and scans. Tests might include blood tests. Scans might include MRI, CT, or PET scans.
You cannot tell if chemotherapy is working based on its side effects. Some people think that severe side effects mean that chemotherapy is working well, or that no side effects mean that chemotherapy is not working. The truth is that side effects have nothing to do with how well chemotherapy is fighting your cancer.
When Is Radiation Therapy Used As Adjuvant Treatment
Adjuvant therapy is an additional cancer treatment that is given after the primary treatment. Adjuvant therapy lowers the risk that the cancer comes back. Primary treatment for skin cancer is often surgery, with radiation therapy as an adjuvant therapy. Radiation kills cancer cells left after the skin cancer was removed.2 This is recommended for:
- BCC, SCC, or melanoma that grew into a nerve.6,8,9
- Non-melanoma skin cancer when cancer cells are found on the edges of the sample despite Mohs surgery.
- Deep desmoplastic melanoma, a type of melanoma that is likely to recur.6
- Melanoma that recurs.6
Adjuvant radiation therapy is also recommend after lymph node removal.4,6 Without radiation therapy, about 40% of high-risk individuals have recurrent melanoma in the remaining lymph nodes.10 With adjuvant radiation therapy, about 10% of people have lymph node cancer recurrence.10
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Skin Color And Being Exposed To Sunlight Can Increase The Risk Of Basal Cell Carcinoma And Squamous Cell Carcinoma Of The Skin
Anything that increases your chance of getting a disease is called a risk factor. Having a risk factor does not mean that you will get cancer not having risk factors doesnt mean that you will not get cancer. Talk with your doctor if you think you may be at risk.
Risk factors for basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma of the skin include the following:
- Being exposed to natural sunlight or artificial sunlight over long periods of time.
- Having a fair complexion, which includes the following:
- Fair skin that freckles and burns easily, does not tan, or tans poorly.
- Blue, green, or other light-colored eyes.
- Red or blond hair.
Although having a fair complexion is a risk factor for skin cancer, people of all skin colors can get skin cancer.
Older age is the main risk factor for most cancers. The chance of getting cancer increases as you get older.
Choosing To Stop Treatment Or Choosing No Treatment At All
For some people, when treatments have been tried and are no longer controlling the cancer, it could be time to weigh the benefits and risks of continuing to try new treatments. Whether or not you continue treatment, there are still things you can do to help maintain or improve your quality of life.
Some people, especially if the cancer is advanced, might not want to be treated at all. There are many reasons you might decide not to get cancer treatment, but its important to talk to your doctors and you make that decision. Remember that even if you choose not to treat the cancer, you can still get supportive care to help with pain or other symptoms.
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Treating Stage 3 Melanoma
If the melanoma has spread to nearby lymph nodes , further surgery may be needed to remove them.
Stage 3 melanoma may be diagnosed by a sentinel node biopsy, or you or a member of your treatment team may have felt a lump in your lymph nodes.
The diagnosis of melanoma is usually confirmed using a needle biopsy .
Removing the affected lymph nodes is done under general anaesthetic.
The procedure, called a lymph node dissection, can disrupt the lymphatic system, leading to a build-up of fluids in your limbs. This is known as lymphoedema.
Cancer Research UK has more information about surgery to remove lymph nodes.
How Can You Look And Feel Like Yourself
Skin-related side effects of chemo tend to be temporary. However, they can be a source of anxiety. If you dont look or feel like yourself, that might make your overall treatment more stressful.
In some cases, applying makeup might help you feel more confident or comfortable about your appearance during chemo. For example, it might help to:
- Apply a silicone-based makeup primer to your face to even out the texture or tone of your skin.
- Dab a creamy concealer on red or dark areas of your face. It might also help to apply a color-correcting cream, mineral makeup powder, or foundation.
- Apply blush to your cheeks, blending upward toward your ear lobes to give your face a glow.
- Use a tinted lip balm or moisturizing lipstick to give your lips more color.
If youve lost your eyelashes or eyebrows, you can also use a soft eyeliner, eyebrow pencil, and brow powder to create the effect of eyelashes and eyebrows.
If your skin texture, tone, or sensitivity has changed during treatment, you might need to use different products than you usually reach for.
To limit the risk of infection, buy new makeup to use during and after treatment. Replace your makeup regularly and always wash your hands before applying it.
For more makeup and beauty-related tips, consider contacting Look Good Feel Better. This organization offers free sessions to help people with cancer manage changes to their appearance.
Some side effects are less common, but more severe.
- redness
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Considering Complementary And Alternative Methods
You may hear about alternative or complementary methods that your doctor hasnt mentioned to treat your cancer or relieve symptoms. These methods can include vitamins, herbs, and special diets, or other methods such as acupuncture or massage, to name a few.
Complementary methods refer to treatments that are used along with your regular medical care. Alternative treatments are used instead of a doctors medical treatment. Although some of these methods might be helpful in relieving symptoms or helping you feel better, many have not been proven to work. Some might even be harmful.
Be sure to talk to your cancer care team about any method you are thinking about using. They can help you learn what is known about the method, which can help you make an informed decision.
Squamous Cell Carcinoma Early Stages
The second most common form of cancer in the skin is squamous cell carcinoma. At first, cancer cells appear as flat patches in the skin, often with a rough, scaly, reddish, or brown surface. These abnormal cells slowly grow in sun-exposed areas. Without proper treatment, squamous cell carcinoma can become life-threatening once it has spread and damaged healthy tissue and organs.
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Squamous Cell Skin Cancer Of The Head And Neck Treatment
Surgery is the preferred management method for the majority of squamous cell skin cancers. Low-risk, early stage, small squamous cell cancers can be removed by Mohs surgery, which is a technique that spares normal tissue through repeated intraoperative margin testing, removing only the cancer and leaving adjacent normal tissue. Excision, curettage and desiccation, and cryosurgery can also be used to remove the cancer while sparing normal tissue. Radiation alone is an alternative for low-risk tumors when surgery is not desirable because of cosmetic concerns or medical reasons.
Large tumors and tumors with nerve or lymph node involvement are not suitable for Mohs surgery and require removal of at least 5-millimeter margins of normal tissue around the cancer and neck dissection for involved lymph nodes. Larger tumors require reconstruction, which can be done at the time of surgery if margin status is clear. Reconstruction should be staged when margins status is not clear.
Patients with high-risk tumors should meet with a radiation therapist to discuss postoperative radiation. Chemotherapy may be added to radiation for extensive lymph node involvement or positive margins that cannot be cleared with additional surgery. In patients with high-risk tumors who are not surgical candidates, systemic treatment with both radiation and chemotherapy is used. Such cases require multidisciplinary care by a team of surgeons, radiation oncologists and medical oncologists.
Medication For Basal Cell Cancer
While basal cell skin cancer does not usually respond to chemotherapy, it often responds to a targeted drug called vismodegib, sold as Erivedge®. This targeted medication helps disrupt the activity of a group of proteins in the body called hedgehog.
In children, these proteins tell healthy cells to grow and divide. In adults, these proteins usually become inactive. With basal cell cancer, abnormal hedgehog proteins can cause cancer cells to grow and spread.
Vismodegib can help shrink large basal cell skin cancers, making surgery more effective. For people with advanced basal cell cancer, the medication may keep the tumor in check for months or years. Vismodegib is usually taken daily by mouth.
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Topical Treatments For Skin Cancer
Some skin spots and cancers can be treated with creams or gels that you apply to the skin. These are called topical treatments. They may contain immunotherapy or chemotherapy drugs, and are prescribed by a doctor.
You should use these treatments only on the specific spots or areas that your doctor has asked you to treat. Dont use leftover cream to treat new spots that have not been assessed by your doctor.
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Skin Care During Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy often causes dry, irritated skin. Rather than waiting to deal with symptoms after treatment starts, patients can take steps to minimize skin problems about one week before beginning chemo. Then, they can continue the regimen during treatment.
âThere are many things that you can do to prevent that dry skin,â says Lacouture. âPeople tend to think of dry skin as just a cosmetic problem, but … dry skin can get so severely dry that it becomes inflamed and more susceptible to infections.â
Lacoutureâs offers these tips to prevent skin problems during chemotherapy:
- Avoid long, hot showers or baths.
- Use gentle, fragrance-free soaps and laundry detergent.
- Use moisturizers, preferably creams or ointments rather than lotions because the thicker consistency is better at preventing skin dehydration. Apply the cream or ointment within 15 minutes of showering. Reapply moisturizer at night, and moisturize your hands every time after you wash them.
- If your skin is very dry and flaky, ammonium lactate cream can increase moisture. These creams are available by prescription and over-the-counter.
- Some chemotherapy drugs make skin more susceptible to sunburn. Use a sunscreen with at least an SPF 30, and make sure that it protects against both UVA and UVB rays. Protection against UVA requires ingredients such as zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, or avobenzone.
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Risk Of Further Melanomas
Most people treated for early melanoma do not have further trouble with the disease. However, when there is a chance that the melanoma may have spread to other parts of your body, you will need regular check-ups. Your doctor will decide how often you will need check-ups everyone is different. They will become less frequent if you have no further problems. After treatment for melanoma it is important to limit exposure to the sun’s UV radiation. As biological family members usually share similar traits, your family members may also have an increased risk of developing melanoma and other skin cancers. They can reduce their risk by spending less time in the sun and using a combination of sun protection measures during sun protection times. It is important to monitor your skin regularly and if you notice any changes in your skin, or enlarged lymph glands near to where you had the cancer, see your specialist as soon as possible.
How To Apply Chemotherapy Cream For Skin Cancer
Your doctor, nurse or a pharmacist will give you the cream to put on at home. It is important to follow the advice they give you.You apply the cream on either once or twice a day. The area can usually be left uncovered. But your doctor or nurse may advise you to cover the area with a waterproof dressing after putting on the cream. You usually use the cream for 4 weeks.
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Is It Ok To Use Cosmetics To Cover Up Rashes Caused By Anticancer Medications
It is perfectly fine to use cosmetics on rashes. But keep in mind that anything that comes in contact with the skin may cause irritation.
When you first begin applying cosmetics, I recommend trying only one product at a time. Some people find they have developed new allergies, even to products they used regularly in the past.
If you have an acne-like rash, do not to use acne medications as that may cause even more irritation.