There has been an alarming rise in skin cancer, such as basal and squamous cell carcinomas, as well as in melanoma. During their lifetime, one in five Americans will develop a basal or squamous cell carcinoma, and one in seventy-five will develop a melanoma, a rate that has doubled in the last twenty years. One million people a year will develop a new skin cancer. Some facts:

• 80% of your lifetime damage happens before the age of twenty, and the effects of this damage can take ten to twenty years or longer to manifest
• Ongoing damage continues to occur over your lifetime
• While melanoma is usually caused by the sun, it can develop at any age and anywhere on the body. This includes areas of the skin that may have never been exposed to the sun
• Melanoma is the leading cause of death for women twenty-five to thirty-five, excluding accidents, and the most common form of cancer for people twenty-five to twenty-nine years of age
• Melanoma is 100% curable if caught early, and is 100% fatal if ignored. Six of seven deaths from skin cancer each year are due to melanoma

We strongly recommend that our patients undergo at least one total body skin exam each year during which your skin surface and moles are examined. The frequency of these examinations will be determined by your skin's condition and your personal and family history of skin cancer and melanoma. With each first-time body check, we teach our patients how to recognize the early warning signs of skin cancer.

Suspicious lesions are usually biopsied immediately and sent for histopathologic examination. All mole and skin cancer surgeries are performed in our office under local anesthesia, as is Mohs Micrographic Controlled Surgery. Dr. Binstock completed a fellowship at the University of California in San Francisco in Mohs Surgery, a technique used to treat problem basal cell carcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas, and is he board-certified by the American Board of Mohs Surgery and the American Board of Dermatology. He is also a Volunteer Clinical Professor of Dermatology at the University of California San Francisco.