Excision is a minor surgical procedure where a doctor cuts out a spot or lump on the skin. This enables diagnosis of the removed piece of skin by a skin pathologist.
Basal cell carcinoma
Also known as:
Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the commonest skin cancer; almost 300,000 cases were diagnosed in Australia in 2008. It most commonly appears as a flesh-coloured lump which may become ulcerated over time. It is extremely rare for a BCC to cause significant health problems as they grow very slowly and almost never spread to other parts of the body. Depending on the depth of the BCC, treatment may be surgical removal, cryotherapy (freezing) or cream applied directly to the lesion.
Resources
Procedures
Documents/downloads
We currently have no specific downloadable resources or files for Basal cell carcinoma.
Web links
![]() |
American Society of Clinical Oncology Meeting, May 2015 Oral nicotinamide significantly reduced the formation of new nonmelanoma skin cancers (NMSCs) compared with placebo in patients with severely sun-damaged skin and was well tolerated, according to results of a new phase III trial. |
![]() |
SunSmart / Cancer Council Victoria A 44 page booklet published by the Cancer Council Victoria, mainly covering the non-melanoma skin cancers (i.e. basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma). [PDF: 1.1MB] |
![]() |
Damian D et al: Dermatology Department, Sydney Cancer Centre, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney This poster was presented at the European Society for Dermatological Research Annual Meeting 2011. It describes the research methodology, results and conclusions that demonstrate that vitamin B3 is effective for reducing solar keratoses and preventing certain skin cancers. |