Skin cancer surgery Skin Cancer Skin cancer is the most prevalent form of cancer in the United States. The skin is composed of the epidermis and the dermis. Skin cancers begin in the outer layer or epidermis.
Cancer is a disease of cells.
Normal cells reproduce and repair themselves by dividing in an orderly manner but cancer cells are abnormal and proliferate in a disorderly manner producing a malignant tumor. The most common skin cancer is a basal cell carcinoma, which rarely spreads but if left untreated will erode into the underlying tissues. There is a rare familial form of this disease called the nevoid basal cell syndrome or the Gorlin-Goltz syndrome, in which patients incur multiple skin cancers throughout their lives. The second most common skin cancer is a squamous cell carcinoma and if untreated can spread or metastasize to distant tissues. Basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas make up over ninety per cent of skin cancers.