Hello and thanks for posting

I'm sorry to read about what you're going through at the moment. This must be a difficult time for you.

Desmoplastic melanoma is a rare form of skin cancer. It tends to be faster growing within the skin. However, because they can be hard to completely remove, repeated surgeries are sometimes needed.

It sounds like your doctors are being very thorough in making sure they remove all the cancer. When they find carcinoma in situ , it means that cancer cells are still present in the top layers of the skin which haven't spread deeper. That's why they want to keep going with the surgery until they're sure they have got it all.

As nurses we don't recommend treatment, this has to come from your doctor who is familiar with your individual situation. But if the next surgery doesn't completely remove the melanoma they might consider doing Mohs surgery. This is a specialised type of surgery where the surgeon aims to remove all the skin cancer and leave as much healthy skin tissue as possible.  They send the tissue to the laboratory and a specialist doctor (pathologist) looks at it under a microscope. They look to see if any cancer might be left. If cancer is still present, the surgeon injects more local anaesthetic in the area and removes more tissue. They will continue to remove more tissue until they are sure all the cancer has gone and there is a surrounding area of healthy cells. We have information about this procedure on our website.

If surgery doesn't get rid of all the cancer radiotherapy might be an option to target the remaining cancer cells.

As your Macmillan nurse is off at the moment and you don't have a dermatology consultant as such, it might be worth talking things through with another health professional involved in your care to ensure you are being supported. They may be able to refer to a specialist for further advice.

I hope this has been of some help. Please get back to us if you need any more information or support.  You may find it helpful to talk things through with one of the nurses on our helpline.  The number to call is Freephone 0808 800 4040 and the lines are open from 9am till 5pm Monday to Friday.

Kind regards,

Celene