There are two main subtypes of skin cancer:
We provide a Monday to Friday service in an outpatient setting. We hold clinics for patients who have been referred for suspected skin cancer and will be seen under the urgent suspected cancer referral pathway via the GP.
An external company will take photographs of your lesion and a dermatologist will screen, or ‘triage’ the photos and decide the best pathway for your treatment. If a biopsy is deemed necessary, this may be performed at Basildon Hospital, or one of our outreach clinics in North Road Primary Care Centre, Westcliff or The Canvey Primary Care Centre, Canvey Island. Skin cancer surveillance clinics are held at both Basildon and Southend Hospitals, as well as at North Road Primary Care Centre and Orsett Hospital.
We sometimes need to refer patients to other hospitals for specialised treatment such as The London Sarcoma Services and Guys & St Thomas for Mohs micrographic surgery. We also refer patients to Broomfield Hospital if they require plastic surgery as part of their treatment for skin cancer.
You may have been referred into the dermatology skin cancer service on a urgent suspected cancer referral pathway. At this appointment you will be seen by one of the dermatology team for an initial consultation and assessment. If a biopsy is required, this may be performed under local anaesthetic by one of the dermatology team. However, if it is deemed necessary, you may be referred to the plastics team at Broomfield for their surgical opinion and intervention.
Monday to Friday outpatient service with occasional additional clinics at weekends/bank holidays offering urgent suspected cancer diagnostic and cancer surveillance clinics.
There is also a clinic for patients deemed high risk of skin cancer due to solid organ transplantation/ immunosuppression and atypical mole syndrome.
We sometimes refer patients to Guys & St Thomas/ Addenbrookes for Mohs micrographic surgery if needed.
We may refer patients for Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) at Broomfield to treat mild forms of skin cancer or precancerous lesions.
There are two main types of treatment available, these are:
Works by essentially boosting your own immune system to recognise and attack cancer cells. Our body’s immune system helps fight illness and infections. There are many potential side effects, some of which can be more severe which your oncologist and clinical nurse specialist will be able to discuss with you.
Works by attacking a particular gene called BRAF which results in a protein called B-raf. Around 50% of melanomas will have this gene mutation, which allows us to offer a targeted therapy. If your melanoma does not have this mutation, then these targeted therapies will be unlikely to work so we would not be able to offer them.
Depending on the size or stage of your skin cancer, you may be referred to our skin oncology consultants. This will mainly be for patients with a melanoma but can occasionally be for other skin cancers such as merkel cell carcinomas, squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), or basal cell carcinoma (BCC).
Treatments may be offered as an adjuvant treatment (for a skin cancer which has been completely excised and treatment is given to minimise the risk of the cancer recurring), or it may be offered if there are still some cancer cells in the body which were not excised with surgery, or it may have spread to other areas of the body.
Some patients may need to be referred to an Oncologist (cancer doctor) at Southend Hospital for radiotherapy or drug treatment.
Drug treatments for melanoma can include immunotherapy and targeted therapy.
These treatments may be offered as an adjuvant treatment (to reduce the risk of recurrence in melanomas that have been completely removed by surgery) or to treat melanomas that have not been completely removed or have already spread to other areas of the body.
You may see doctors and CNSs from dermatology, plastic surgery, and oncology. The skin oncology consultants specialise in treatments for skin cancer and CNS will be able to support you before, during, and after you receive any immunotherapy or targeted therapy.
We have a multi-disciplinary team of healthcare professionals made up of dermatologists, dermatology registrars, clinical nurse specialists (CNS), nurse surgeons and clinical, medical and consultant oncologists.
Call the clinical nurse specialists (CNS) on 01268 524900 using extension 1461.
For the dermatology skin cancer CNS team call 01245 514557 or email mse.midessexskincancercns@nhs.net.
For the plastic surgery skin cancer CNS team call 01245 516917 or email mse.skin.cns@nhs.net.
If you have been referred to Oncology and wish to speak with us, call 01245 514751 or 07585 984626 (you may also use the mobile number to text or use WhatsApp if you would prefer to contact us this way). You can also email mse.SkinOncologyCNS@nhs.net.
Call the clinical nurse specialists (CNS) on 01702 435555 using extension 6192 or email mse.skincancerCNS@nhs.net.
Melanoma Focus - http://melanomafocus.org
Melanoma UK - https://www.melanomauk.org.uk
British Association of Dermatologists - https://www.bad.org.uk
British Skin foundation - https://www.britishskinfoundation.org.uk
Changing Faces - https://www.changingfaces.org.uk
Alternatively, if you're looking for our dermatology services, visit Dermatology services.