Actinic keratosis Actinic keratosis is a skin condition that is not cancer, but can change into basal cell or squamous cell skin cancer in some people. It appears as rough, red or brown, scaly patches on the skin, usually in areas that have been exposed to the sun. How skin cancer is treated There are treatments for all patients with skin cancer. Often, the cancer can be treated in a doctor's office. Surgery is the most common treatment of skin cancer.
Cryosurgery freezes the tumor and kills it.
Simple excision cuts the cancer from the skin along with some of the healthy tissue around it. Micrographic surgery removes the cancer and as little normal tissue as possible. During this surgery, the doctor removes the cancer and then uses a microscope to look at the cancerous area to make sure no cancer cells remain. Laser therapy uses a highly focused beam of light that destroys only the cancer cells. Surgery may leave a scar on the skin.