Anyone knows about Pigmented Basal Cell Carcinoma (skin cancer)?

I would like to hear from anyone who knows about this form of cancer, and any specialist you may suggest for me to see in Brisbane.

Any dermatologist would be able to successfully treat a basal cell carcinoma and will have already treated hundreds if not many thousand of them previously. What makes a pigmented basal cell different is the darkened area towards the center. Some pigmented basal cells can resemble melanomas so the truly important issue for you is to have a biopsy done quickly to make sure that you are dealing with a basal cell cancer and not a melanoma. If it is a basal cell then simple excision will cure this very common skin cancer. Basal cell skin cancers are only truly dangerous if ignored and then they can become very locally destructive and occasionally will spread elsewhere in the body. This happens when they go untreated for years. If the original cancer is located on your lip or eyelid then treatment becomes more problematic to cure easily but if it is located on regular skin the cure rate from simple excision is very high, above 95%.


Because you live in OZ and have already had one skin cancer from now on you need to always use a good UVA/UVB sun screen when outdoors and also wear a hat - no exceptions. You will also need to see a dermatologist at least once or twice yearly for checkups and if you are fair skinned maybe even more often. Your chances of developing a second skin cancer within five years are above 50% so do not ignore skin care from now on.

Here is a good web page on basal cell carcinoma. Scroll down to Media File 7 for a photo of a typical pigmented example.

http://www.emedicine.com/derm/topic47.ht...

Here are some additional pigmented basal cell examples but generally speaking these are probably worse in appearance than the typical pigmented basal cell that probably brought you to the Dr.


http://dermis.multimedica.de/dermisroot/...

Get this skin cancer taken care of, then you take care of your skin from now on and you will be fine.

good luck

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common form of skin cancer. It can be destructive and disfiguring. The risk of developing BCC is increased for individuals with a family history of the disease and with a high cumulative exposure to UV light via sunlight or, in the past, were exposed to carcinogenic chemicals, especially arsenic. Treatment is with surgery, topical chemotherapy, X-ray, cryosurgery, or photodynamic therapy. It is rarely life-threatening but, if left untreated, can be disfiguring, cause bleeding, and produce local destruction (e.g., eye, ear, nose, lip). Basal cell skin cancer almost never spreads; but, if untreated, it may grow into surrounding areas and nearby tissues and bone.