MOHS SURGERY: WHAT TO KNOW If you’ve been diagnosed with certain types of skin cancer, your doctor may recommend Mohs surgery. This highly precise procedure removes cancer in thin layers, examining each under a microscope until only healthy tissue remains. The goal is to eliminate all cancer cells while preserving as much healthy skin as possible. This approach offers the highest cure rates, minimizes scarring, and usually avoids the need for additional treatments—making it ideal for delicate or highly visible areas like the face, ears, and hands. I recently underwent Mohs surgery for a growth on my cheek and was...
NICOTINAMIDE HELPS PREVENT COMMON SKIN CANCERS l Basal-cell carcinoma, I recently found out, isn’t only the most common type of skin cancer, it’s the most common cancer, period. I visit my dermatologist 3-4 times a year for a skin screening. Each time she finds more basal cells—usually on top of my balding scalp but also on my ears, neck, and arms—and removes them using liquid nitrogen. On my visit last July, she recommended I begin taking a vitamin B3 supplement called nicotinamide. She told me that her patients who take the supplement twice daily greatly reduce the incidence of this skin...
SKIN CANCER—KEEPING YOUR SKIN IN THE GAME Yesterday I saw my dermatologist for my quarterly skin checkup. Nothing new, thank goodness. Besides these regular appointments, I keep a continual skin watch on myself. You see I had melanoma 20 years ago. I lived in Portugal for three years in the mid 1990s and didn’t bother having a physical exam. When I got home and finally went in, the doc spotted a lesion with an irregular border on my back. “Oh, oh, we need to biopsy this,” he said. Sure enough it was the melanoma variety of skin cancer and it...
