Ginger - diagnosed with Bowens disease

Hi I have just been diagnosed with Bowens disease skin cancer,just hearing the word cancer put the fear of god into me. Waiting for an appointment to be seen for treatment I’ve googled it so I’ve learned bits about my disease and although it’s treatable it’s still the c word and scares so more information would be nice as the internet is a scary read for a 60 year old lady thanks in advance 

  • Hi Ginget, 

    A warm welcome to Cancer Chat. You are right that the internet is a very dark place sometimes and it's best not to Google too much and to stick to reliable information as you would find on our website so I suggest you read our page on Bowen's Disease which will tell you everything you need to know about this very slow growing skin cancer and I hope that reading this will reassure you. If you have any other questions, feel free to give our cancer nurses a call on this free number 0808 800 4040 - their line is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm and they will be happy to answer questions you may have about the treatment for example or anything else you would like to discuss with them. 

    I hope you won't have to wait too long to be seen - you will feel a lot better I am sure once you have had your appointment and had an idea of what treatment you will be having. You have come to the right place to talk to others who have also been diagnosed with Bowen's disease and I thought I would mention for example   's Bowen's Disease thread. I hope that someone who has been diagnosed with Bowen's disease will be along shortly to share their story with you. 

    Best of luck for your appointment - let us know how it goes if you get a moment! 

    Best wishes, 

    Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator 

  • Hi Ginget,

    A very warm welcome to our forum.

    I am sorry to hear that you have recently been diagnosed with Bowen's Disease. My husband has this too. It is an early and slow-growing form of skin cancer, which affects the outer layers of the skin and is usually very treatable. Unfortunately, about 3% of cases develop into a more advanced and invasive type of lesion, known as Squamous Cell Carcinoma and this is what my husband has. HIs lesions are on his head and he has just had a few clusters of these frozen off. He had a lesion on his back 5 months ago, which was removed and now has another suspect lesion on his cheek. We are currently on a 6 week wait for biopsy results on this, but the dermatologist seems pretty sure that this is another Squamous Cell Carcinoma. If this proves to be the case, then this will be surgically moved too.

    Try to steer clear of the internet, until you know more about exactly what stage you are at. There are a number of different options for treatment, depending upon where the lesions are situated. I do hope that your appointment comes through soon. Please keep in touch and let us know how you get on. We are always here for you.

    Kind regards,

    Jolamine xx