Surgery is the most common treatment for skin cancer. Cryosurgery freezes the tumor and kills it. Simple excision cuts the cancer from your 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 narrow beam of light to remove cancer cells.
Surgery may leave a scar on your skin. Depending on the size of the cancer, skin may be taken from another part of your 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.