Dr. Moon and Dr. Limbert are board-certified dermatologists who treat a variety of skin problems. Certain common ailments include acne problems, allergic rashes, eczema, excessive sweating, skin tags and more. Specialized treatments include basal cell carcinoma, shingles, sun damage, skin cancer, melanoma and others.
In particular, skin cancer is the
most common condition that we diagnose and treat here in Southeast Missouri.
This
is the most common skin cancer with an estimated 2.8 million cases diagnosed
yearly. BCCs often look like open sores, red patches, pink growths, shiny
bumps, or scars. They are usually caused
by a combination of cumulative sun exposure.
These cancers are mostly found on sun exposed sites like the face, nose,
ears, and arms. BCCs almost never
spreads\ (metastasizes) beyond the original tumor site. Only in exceedingly
rare cases can the cancer spread to other parts of the body and become
life-threatening. It shouldn’t be taken lightly, though: it can be disfiguring
if not treated promptly.
SCCs
often look like scaly red patches, open sores, elevated growths, or warts; they
may crust or bleed. Unlike BCCs, SCCs
can spread or metastasize to other areas of the body and cause death if
untreated SCCs may occur on all areas of the body
including the mucous membranes and genitals, but are most common in areas
frequently exposed to the sun, such as the rim of the ear, lower lip, face,
balding scalp, neck, hands, arms and legs. An estimated 700,000 cases of SCC
are diagnosed each year in the US, and between 3,900 and 8,800 people died from
the disease in the US in 2012
These tumors originate in the pigment-producing cells in the Melanomas
often resemble moles. The majority of
melanomas are black or brown, but they can also be skin-colored, pink, red,
purple, blue or white. Melanoma is caused mainly by intense, occasional UV
exposure (frequently leading to sunburn), especially in those who are
genetically predisposed to the disease.
If melanoma is recognized and treated early, it is almost always
curable. If untreated, melanoma skin
cancer can spread to other parts of the body and cause death. While Melanoma is
not the most common of the skin cancers, it causes the most skin cancer deaths. In 2015 it is estimated that 74,000 new cases
were diagnosed and approximately 10,000 people died from the disease.
