LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- About 45,000 Kentuckians are expected to be diagnosed with skin cancer in 2023 alone. Roughly 10,000 of them will be Jefferson County residents.
Treatment is often invasive and painful, but Dr. Denise T Dickinson's dermatology clinic on Bluegrass Avenue is using an innovative new approach to cure non-melanoma skin cancer without leaving any scars.
Linda Wahl has dealt with basal cell skin cancer and an invasive treatment, called Mohs, for decades.
A clinic in Louisville is using an innovative new approach to cure skin cancer without scars. (WDRB photo)
"Had it on my nose, and had black eyes," Wahl said. "It was not ideal."
"Mohs often leaves a large scar six times bigger than the original lesion," Taylor Barnett, a radiation therapist at Dr. Dickinson's clinic, said.
Over the summer, Wahl decided to give a superficial treatment a try on her cheek and nose.
"It's only treating the surface level of the skin," Barnett said.
Dr. Dickinson's clinic has helped roughly 100 people since starting treatments on Valentine's Day. Unlike other options, this doesn't cause bleeding or scars, so there's no need for reconstructive surgery.
"The energy of the x-rays goes in and kills the cancer cells while only minimally damaging the healthy skin," Barnett said. "It can cause redness, but after six weeks that completely goes away."
Wahl said she didn't feel any pain.
"It makes a noise," Wahl said. "That's the only way I knew it's going."
Getting treated this way can be time consuming since it takes 20 appointments for the skin cancer to be cured. However, from start to finish, patients are only sitting in this chair for about 10 minutes per visit.
"The actual treatment only last 30 seconds," Dr. Dickinson said. "Thirty seconds of radiation treatment per lesion but you can treat up to 3 per treatment."
This is the only clinic in Kentucky to treat basal cell and squamous cell skin cancers this way, and it has a 99% cure rate.
Barnett said she's proud to be the only person who knows how to operate this machine in the state.
"I'm actually singlehandedly curing the cancer with this, so it's really cool to see that from beginning to end," Barnett said.
To schedule an appointment with the dermatology clinic, click here.
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