Basal-cell carcinoma - serious or not?

[123lookatme]

So after years of sitting directly in the sun and me telling DH not to plus a wart like skin tag under his eye and again me telling him to get it checked out - DH has finally gone to the GP after a surgeon friend of ours advised it. Diaganosed with Basal-cell carcinoma whcih is a type of skin cancer. Been to hosp saw a nurse who took a biopsy and now referred him to a Dr at the hosp for it to be removed.

Ive told him he now needs to sit up and listen, never sit directly in the sun but he seems to be oh yer yer it's not serious etc...

[AjasLipstick]

These are very common in Australia....not that this makes it less scary! But they are easily treated and usually people are absolutely fine once they're removed.

[WhatWouldLeslieKnopeDo]

Well, as cancers go it's at the less serious end of the scale. They are usually very easily treated and not likely to spread elsewhere. Hopefully it'll be a bit of a wake up call and he will be more careful about sun exposure in the future.

His attitude might be bravado because he's worried.

[LarkDescending]

I’ve had this (very common, even in the UK) and it needs removing so as not to allow further local growth which can cause disfigurement. I had MOHS micrographic surgery in 2015 for an aggressive infiltrative BCC on my temple/scalp.

However it is not one to get unduly alarmed about - distant spread is very unlikely indeed. Because of this it is the only cancer diagnosis which does not disqualify a person from being eligible to give blood in future, once it has been removed and the wound has healed.

It should be a wake-up call re taking safe sun precautions, but I was told that BCCs are often attributable to sun damage accrued in early life. People who have had one BCC are at higher than average risk of further skin cancers, both melanoma and non-melanoma.

[GlassHeart1]

Needs to be taken seriously and treated.
Although it doesn't metastasize as such, if left untreated, it will grow inwards.
My DF had it for years and refused treatment as it was only marginally bothersome but in the end he lost his eye and through that it spread to his brain.
By the time he realised how serious, it was, he was in his 80s and it was too late for the surgery.

[Iprefercoffeetotea]

I possibly have one at the moment though mine is more likely to be a non-cancerous solar keratosis. I've been given cream to use on it and it should work if it's a BCC too.

Nodular BCCs can be more serious but I think you'd probably have to leave them years and years before they became something to get worried about. If the cream doesn't work on mine, it could be nodular, but I think I've had it a short enough time not to worry about as it's months not years.

The real worry for me was when the GP said that melanomas can be pigment-free (or pink). I thought they were effectively dodgy moles. I had not even thought that mine could be a melanoma, so I posted on here to alert people to see the doctor if they have anything weird on their skin and not just moles that look rogue.