SKIN CANCER DIAGNOSIS
Society demands greater attention and reliability in medical practice.
Dermatology is continuously advancing in diagnostics and therapeutic solutions.
During the last 3 decades, the classic cutaneous biopsy has advanced tremendously. Before, it required a surgical room and suture material to close off the loss of the examined substance. This has changed with the new “punch” procedure. A sample between 3-5mm in diameter is taken where most of the time there is no need for sutures. The sample is then examined in the dermatopathology lab and a histopathological result will be available to the patient in 3-4 days
In oncologic surgery, the tissue is frozen, cut and this cut in the cryostat will determine within a few minutes if the excised lesion is tumor free. In cutaneous oncology, this procedure compared to the classic process using paraffin shows a reliability index of 85%
Today, Mohs surgery is considered the most reliable technique against high risk cutaneous and recurrent tumors. The ability to immediately freeze tumor tissues using horizontal cuts allows the removal of selective tumor tissue giving the patient guarantee of success over other techniques. We have used this technique in over five thousand interventions and call it our star technique.
In most cases, the DIC utilizes the extractions through the “punch” system as this is compatible with other extraction procedures such as “shaving” or the exeresis procedure.
The methodology is similar to that of Mohs surgery in which the tumor tissue is freezed. A perpendicular cut in the center is also made. The tissue with the problem is tainted for an immediate histological examination. All the remaining material is processed with the conventional paraffin method 5 days later as a dual control.
Up to date we have conducted 250 DIC exams in tumoral melanocytic and epithelial pathology as well as inflammatory disease pathology.
Preliminaty Results
Melanocytic lesions are useful in most cases; however the problem resides in the diagnosis of the cutaneous malignant melanoma. The entire tissue is required to be examined and the correct removal of such is as important to provide a diagnosis.
The DIC can rule out other possible diagnoses immediately, having to wait for the classic histopathological exam to provide a precise diagnosis.
In pathology with inflammatory conditions we are at a preliminary stage of collecting material.
Immediate skin cancer diagnosis (DIC)
Non-therapeutic diagnostic procedure
Immediate diagnosis (15 minutes) as an outpatient
Indications on injuries where there is a possible tumor suspected.
Reliability: 90% (+ – 4) in cutaneous carcinoma.
Second control at 5 days (reliability: Classic Dermatopathology).
It is not indicated for the diagnosis of melanocytic lesions.
Preliminary stage in inflammatory pathology.