Explaining Skin Cancer to Newly Diagnosed Patients | An Oncodermatologist Weighs In
Explaining Skin Cancer to Newly Diagnosed Patients: An Oncodermatologist Weighs In from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.
How can skin cancer be explained to newly diagnosed patients? Expert Dr. Silvina Pugliese shares how she explains various skin cancer subtypes, the origin of different skin cancers, and how the incidence rate and appearance can differ for some non-melanoma skin cancers.
Silvina Pugliese, M.D., is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Dermatology and Attending Physician at the Stanford Medicine Outpatient Center and Stanford Cancer Institute. Learn more about Dr. Pugliese.
[ACT]IVATION TIP
“…recognize that there are common non-melanoma skin cancers, which are also called keratinocyte carcinomas, they are called this because they arise from keratinocytes. The most common are basal cell skin cancers and squamous cell skin cancer, and it is important to recognize that they can look different from melanoma.”
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Transcript:
Mary Leer:
Dr. Pugliese, how do you explain skin cancers to your newly diagnosed patients?
Dr. Silvina Pugliese:
So, when explaining skin cancers to my patients, I will, and this is in the context of explaining non-melanoma skin cancers, I will explain that they are cancers arising from different cells within the skin, so in the case of both basal cell cancer and squamous cell cancer, they arise from keratinocytes within the skin, and I’ll explain that the skin cancers are different from melanoma because many patients will have heard about melanoma, and I may know people who had melanoma, but they may know a little bit less about basal cell or squamous cell, despite those being the more common types of skin cancers.
I also will explain that basal cell and squamous cell are really the more common skin cancers that we encounter, so in the case of basal cell cancers, there are about 4 million cases diagnosed each year in the United States, and squamous cell cancer is the second most common kind of skin cancer with approximately 2 million cases diagnosed each year of squamous cell cancer.
My activation tip for this question is to recognize that there are common non-melanoma skin cancers, which are also called keratinocyte carcinomas, they are called this because they arise from keratinocytes. The most common are basal cell skin cancers and squamous cell skin cancer, and it is important to recognize that they can look different from melanoma.
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