How is basal cell carcinoma treated?
The skin cancer specialists at Miami Cancer Institute are internationally renowned experts who offer the most advanced, innovative therapies available to treat your specific kind of cancer.
Every patient’s disease is unique, with different cells moving, changing or multiplying based on that person’s individual genetic make-up. In addition to locating the tumor cells and determining what the genetic changes and markers are, other ways our specialists can create the best personalized treatment plan is to factor in a patient’s age, overall health, family history, medical history, and finally to stage the cancer, which helps identify how far the disease has progressed.
Immediately after diagnosis, our specialty teams provide additional tests to determine if the cancer has affected other areas of the body. Treatment recommendations are made that same day so that patients can receive the best individualized treatment therapies as soon as possible.
Your personalized treatment plan may include:
- Surgery — Surgery, including Mohs micrographic surgery, to remove the skin cancer and any surrounding tissues where the cancer cells may have spread is the most common treatment for basal cell carcinoma. Every patient’s cancer is unique, so your specialists will discuss what surgical option might be best for you.
- Targeted Therapies — Our specialists use drugs or other select substances to identify and attack specific types of cancer cells, blocking their growth and spread. The goal of targeted therapy is to interfere with genes or proteins involved in tumor growth while avoiding damage to healthy cells.
- Targeted Therapy is the foundation of precision medicine, which uses information about a person’s genes or a tumor’s DNA profile to develop innovative, tailored treatment options.
- Treatment can be delivered through a pill taken orally and may be combined with surgery and radiation therapy.
- Radiation Therapy — Our specialists can use precise techniques to treat a variety of skin cancers, such as those that occur in areas too difficult for surgery, in patients who cannot undergo surgery, or even in patients with high-risk disease following resection. Our radiotherapy specialists will discuss if radiation therapy is an option for you.
- Clinical Trials — Miami Cancer Institute offers South Florida patients and our communities' access to leading-edge, innovative treatments that often result in new therapies not available elsewhere and that can often mean excellent outcomes for patients.
