Complimentary Skin Evaluations in May
Because May is the Skin Cancer Awareness Month and CosMed is conscious about this public health problem worldwide, we will be committed during May to offer complimentary skin evaluations for suspicious lesions and mole check-ups with our newest digital dermatoscope, and also teaching and informing our patients about the skin self exam, especially for those with a history of skin cancer or suspicious lesions.
Do you know someone who has a history of skin cancer? Show them how much you love and care for them. Contact us for more info or schedule today an appointment with our board certified dermatologist and skin cancer expert Dr. Alberto de la Fuente. Together we can save lives.
Remember that if we can spot it, we can stop it.
Schedule your Free Skin Care Evaluation Now
More about Dermoscopy
Dermoscopy is a dermatological technique in which a skin examination is performed on skin lesions with a dermatoscope. This consists of a magnifier, a non-polarized light source, a transparent plate and a liquid medium between the instrument and the skin, allowing the inspection of skin lesions unobstructed by skin surface reflections. This technique is useful to dermatologists in distinguishing benign from malignant (cancerous) lesions, especially in the diagnosis of melanoma which is the deadliest and most aggressive form of skin cancer.
With dermoscopy, the diagnostic accuracy for melanoma is significantly better than for those doctors who do not have any specialized training in dermatoscopy. Thus, with specialists trained in dermoscopy, there is considerable improvement in the sensitivity (detection of melanomas) as well as specificity (percentage of non-melanomas correctly diagnosed as benign), compared with the naked eye examination. The accuracy by dermoscopy is increased up to 20% in the case of sensitivity and up to 10% in the case of specificity, compared with the naked eye examination. By using dermoscopy, the specificity is thereby increased, reducing the frequency of unnecessary surgical excisions of benign lesions. It is important to mention that even though dermoscopy is really helpful, we combine it with the skin biopsy for those lesions that are still highly suspicious. It is not a substitute for a skin biopsy.
Skin Cancer facts:
Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States and also in many countries worldwide. In the US, more than 3.5 million skin cancers in over two million people are diagnosed annually. Each year there are more new cases of skin cancer than the combined incidence of cancers of the breast, prostate, lung and colon. One in five Americans will develop skin cancer in the course of a lifetime. One person dies of melanoma every hour.
Skin cancer is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal skin cells. It occurs when unrepaired DNA damage to skin cells (most often caused by ultraviolet radiation from sunshine or tanning beds) triggers mutations (genetic defects) that lead the skin cells to multiply rapidly and form malignant tumors. It is also the easiest cancer to cure, if diagnosed and treated early. When allowed to progress, however, skin cancer can result in disfigurement and even death. With the combination of the dermatological evaluation, self examination and dermoscopy, we can detect, treat early and save lives.
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Dr. de la Fuente
Our CosMed dermatologist Dr. de la Fuente is a skin cancer expert. He has presented and published scientific articles available at PubMed, Journal of the American Academy of Dermatolgy, Skin and Aging, Clinical and Experimental Dermatology and many more. He also serves as a Dermatology Professor at School of Medicine in Tijuana.
To learn more or schedule your appointment, visit CosMedClinic.com
