Khrom Dermatology is one of the few practices in Brooklyn, NY to provide comprehensive care for both cosmetic and medical concerns. Skin cancer treatment is among the services we offer, which we sincerely hope you will never need.
Dr. Khrom and her team strive to educate every patient about the risks of UV exposure and best practices for cancer prevention. We also recommend skin cancer screening at least once a year, because early detection and treatment can quite literally save your life if cancer does develop.
Self-checking your skin
Although professional skin cancer screening is essential, you shouldn’t simply wait for your dermatologist to find a problem. Cancerous lesions can develop and grow quickly, often becoming noticeable months before your next annual screening – if you know what to look for.
Successful self-checks rely on familiarity with your own skin. Know where you have moles and other harmless skin growths and know where they are located. If new lesions develop, or existing ones change in appearance, there is a good chance that it could be cancerous.
Remembering the signs of skin cancer is as simple as ABCDE. If you discover a lesion with any of the below criteria, call us for an evaluation.
- Asymmetrical shape
- Border is uneven or jagged
- Color is variegated or changes
- Diameter is larger than a pencil eraser
- Elevated (raised) above surrounding skin
Skin cancer diagnosis and treatment
The first indications of skin cancer are visual, as mentioned above. The trained eye of a dermatologist can usually identify harmless lesions and skin growths with no further testing. However, skin cancer is never diagnosed definitively without laboratory analysis. If your dermatologist detects a suspicious lesion, a biopsy (small tissue sample) will be taken and sent for evaluation.
If you are diagnosed with skin cancer, the most effective treatment is surgical removal. There are several techniques, with the most complex and most effective being Mohs Micrographic surgery. Because the Mohs procedure requires an extensive skillset and considerable training, very few dermatologists are qualified to perform it. Dr. Khrom is among the few fellowship-trained Mohs Micrographic surgeons, giving her patients access to premium skin cancer treatment.
If you have any concerning skin growths, or it’s time for your annual skin cancer screening, please call us at 718-615-4000 and schedule an appointment.
