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. Depending on the size of the cancer, skin may be taken from another part of the body and put on the area where the cancer was removed. This is called a skin graft. New ways of doing surgery and grafting may reduce scarring. Radiation therapy uses x-rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors.