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Skin Tumors - Types of Skin Tumors - Pictures, Treatment, causes of skin tumors
Available modes of therapy are: Surgery-scalpel, cryosurgery, electro-surgery, chemo-surgery. Radiation and Cytotoxic Agents
- Cytotoxic Agents : The systemic use of these agents is indicated only in malignant lymphomas i.e. mycosis fungoides, leukaemia cutis and Hodgkin's disease. Many such drugs have been synthesized and the available ones are classified as follows:
- Alkylating agents - Nitrogen mustard, ethyleneimine, fluorouracil, icyclophosphamide.
- Anti-metabolites - 8-azaguinine, 6-mercaptopurine, aminopterin, methotrexate.
- Antibiotics - Sarcomycin, adinomycin, carcinophyrin, mitomycin-C, chromomycin, bleomycin, vinblastine
- Hormones - Sex hormones, ACTH, corticosteroids.
- Radio-isotopes - P 32, I 131, Co 60, Au 190
- Plant derivatives - Podophyllin, colchicin, milkweed, Abrus precatorius
In the common varieties of skin surface malignancies, the systemic antineoplastic drugs have no place. Attempts to find a substance with a selective lethal effect on cancerous tissue have met with failure till now.
Besides these, chloroquine (5%) and steroids have also been used. Battley demonstrated remarkable success with 20% podophyllin in rodent ulcer.
Chemo-surgery: Introduced by F.E. Mohs' it consists of freezing the tissue with zinc chloride and scraping off the malignant cells. It requires repeated and careful histological examination before cure is claimed and treatment terminated.
Present modified Mohs' surgery uses a knife or diathermy needle to achieve the same result. Neoplasm is removed completely; frozen sections are studied to see if any malignant cells exist at the edge or base. If they do, further resection is undertaken till the neoplasm is completely eradicated and edges and base are free of neoplastic cells.
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