Most patients who get skin cancer on their lips or eyes end up going through multiple surgeries over time.
Those are the kind of patients Tampa dermatologist Seth Forman will focus on as he begins this month offering a newer technology, a non-surgical electron beam therapy for non-melanoma skin cancer.
“Most patients who have skin cancer are routinely undergoing surgery, sometimes two or three times a year,” Forman said. “This is an electron beam that, for the most part, preserves normal tissue better than some of the older technology.”
Forman’s ForCare Medical Center has two radiation oncologists on staff and has built a special room at his practice specifically for the electron beam therapy.
This is an optional procedure, said Forman, whose office is located at 5416 N. Florida Ave. And not everyone will like the idea of coming back repeatedly for another dose of radiation. His practice sees about 1,000 patients who could benefit from this technology, he said. The treatment must be done in small doses, requiring multiple very short office visits. “We do it in tolerable increments,” Forman said.
Radiation therapy can be used as the main form of treatment if a tumor is very large or in an area that makes it hard to remove with surgery, according to the American Cancer Society.
“Radiation therapy can also be useful for some patients who, for other health reasons, can’t have surgery,” such as those on blood thinners.
This therapy is also useful when combined with other treatments. For example, it can be used after surgery to kill any remaining cancer cells that were not readily detected.
The cost of the treatment is about comparable to having surgery and getting a plastic surgery follow-up, Forman said.
