The Dermatological Cancer Program offers comprehensive diagnostic and treatment services for premalignant and malignant lesions of the skin. Most patients with cutaneous malignancies are cared for within the Department of Dermatology. Multidepartmental treatment is arranged for those patients who will benefit from the use of multidisciplinary therapy using a wide variety of modalities. The initial clinic visit is usually devoted to clinical and laboratory evaluation, review of histopathologic material, diagnostic studies, and consultation with other clinical services.
Surgical treatment offers the highest cure rate for most primary cancers of the skin.
Therefore, a frozen tissue laboratory is available for use in this procedure. When indicated, multispecialty surgery and care is coordinated with Oculoplastic and Orbital Oncology, Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Surgical Oncology, Radiation Therapy, and Medical Oncology. The Dermatopathology Service provides important consultation and expertise in the analysis of histopathologic specimens. Such consultation is particularly relevant in the diagnosis of pigmented dysplastic lesions, precancerous cutaneous diseases, histopathologic staging of malignant melanoma, differentiation of inflammatory and reactive diseases for malignancy, immunohistochemistry, and related issues. Since the majority of the cutaneous carcinomas occur on the head and neck and effective therapy may lead to cosmetic defects, facial prosthetic services are also available on referral.