Hello Ade79

I'm sorry to hear that your Mam has just been diagnosed with skin cancer. It's understandably a worrying time for you and natural that you have questions. 

There are 2 main types of skin cancer: Non melanoma skin cancer and melanoma skin cancer. Do you know which type your Mum has been diagnosed with? I've linked some information for you that's available on our website that you may find helpful. I'm also going to tag one of our forum members AngieT. Angie has been living with stage 3 melanoma now for quite a number of years and I know her knowledge and expertise in this diagnosis has been a great help to other community members. If it is melanoma that your Mam has been diagnosed with then hopefully Angie will be able to offer you some support. 

We do have a team of nurses that you can call to talk things through with if you think it may help. They're available Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm (excluding bank holidays) on 0808 800 4040 and I know they will be happy to listen and offer any advice, information, and support they can. 

Undoubtedly this is a worrying time whilst you wait for further tests and results but hopefully, the team will be able to give you both some reassurance before too long. Do keep in touch and let us know how you are both getting on. 

Best wishes, 
Jenn
Cancer Chat moderator 

Hi Ade,

Firstly, thankyou Jenn for your mention.

Ade, as Jenn says, it will depend on the type of skin cancer your mam has but from what you say I'm guessing it's melanoma. If so, I can only give you advice about melanoma because I haven't personally experienced the other two types - basal cell & squamous cell carcinomas. 

The depth of the melanoma is the yardstick as to what treatment a melanoma patient receives but first they do a wider excision where the mole was to ensure they have removed a safe margin of tissue. This is called a Wide Local Excision (WLE) and it mops up any stray cell that may have broken away so that it doesn't spread anywhere else. Because your mam's tumour was so deep, they also do the radiation injection you mention. This is called a Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy (SLNB) and it's done at the same time as the WLE. They inject the area of the mole & track, with ultrasound, which lymph node it travels to. This is called the Sentinel Node & they will remove it (and sometimes the one(s) next to it) to send for biopsy. This is to check to see if the melanoma has already started to travel through the lymphatic system. If the WLE & SLNB results are clear, it means the cancer has been contained in the mole & has been successfully removed. 

Clear results would mean mam would then be monitored for a period of time. If the results aren't clear, they will then put mum on a course of drug treatment & regularly scan her to ensure the melanoma hasn't travelled further in the body. 

A deep melanoma is a concern, however, melanoma is a sneaky cancer & doesn't follow all the rules of other cancers. Someone with a deep melanoma can have no spread & have no further problems in the future whilst someone with a shallow melanoma can spread. Mine was only 0.7mm in depth but it spread. So it's a tricky cancer to get your head round sometimes.

Your mum is in good hands and treatment is showing great success these days. Melanoma focus is a great website for more information but meanwhile I will send you a friend request so that I can send you more information by private message. Good look to mam,

Angie (Stage 3 melanoma patient since 2009)

Hi AngieT, thanks for all the information. Hopefully she gets the scan soon. It was such a shock to hear and I’ve felt anxious and numb since I found out on Thursday. I will keep you updated.