Common skin cancers and their precursors.

Full Abstract

This review of precancerous and cancerous skin lesions serves as an overview for the general surgeon in clinical practice. Because these lesions are common in the general population, it is likely that they will be encountered frequently, perhaps even during consultation for an unrelated issue. General surgeons have a unique role in caring for these common skin cancers both primarily and by understanding the basis for referral to a specialist. With these goals in mind, we discuss the pathophysiology of cutaneous malignancy as well as the diagnosis and treatment of the three most common cutaneous malignancies in the United States: basal cell, squamous cell, and melanoma skin cancers.

Author information

Author/s: Arora, Alisha (A); Attwood, John (J);

Affiliation: Department of Plastic Surgery, Lahey Clinic, 41 Mall Road, Burlington, MA 01805, USA.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Review

Journal: The Surgical clinics of North America (Surg Clin North Am), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Jun; vol 89 (issue 3) : pp 703-12

Dates: Created 2009/05/25; Completed 2009/08/18;

PMID: 19465206, status: MEDLINE (last retrieved date: 8/21/2009)

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