Melanoma and Skin Cancer

Ochsner specialists screen skin for any indications of skin cancer or tumors. We provide total body screens and biopsies when necessary.

Skin cancer screening is generally recommended for people at increased risk for developing skin cancer. Not everyone with risk factors develops skin cancer. However, if you do have one or more risk factors, discuss them with your healthcare provider and get regular skin cancer screenings.

The earlier skin cancer is found, the better the chance of it being treated successfully.

If you are at high risk for skin cancer, your dermatologist can help you determine how frequently you need screenings.

Our team includes dermatologists who are experts in identifying and treating skin cancer, including basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and malignant melanoma. They can also evaluate changes in pigmented spots or new red bumps that bleed. 

In many cases, dermatologists can remove skin cancers using standard surgical techniques. Some procedures are quick and can be done in the clinic, while others may require more involved care.

For patients with malignant melanoma, dermatologic surgeons work closely with plastic surgeons and surgical oncologists to provide treatment.

Treatment options include specialized therapies like psoralen ultraviolet A (PUVA) therapy, which combines medicine and UVA light to treat skin cancer, photophoresis, which treats blood with light and medicine to boost the immune system and total skin electron beam treatment, which uses radiation to target cancer on the skin's surface.

Ochsner MD Anderson Cancer Center at The Gayle and Tom Benson Cancer Center in New Orleans was the first hospital in Louisiana to offer tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) therapy for adults with advanced melanoma.

Advanced melanoma is a form of skin cancer that has spread from where it originated in the body. TIL therapy is a form of immunotherapy that uses a patient’s own immune cells to fight cancer.

How TIL therapy works

During treatment, surgeons remove a piece of the cancerous tumor and isolate the lymphocytes from the tumor. Lymphocytes are cells that have the ability to identify and fight cancer cells.

In a laboratory, these lymphocytes are activated and multiplied to be administered back into the patient.

Once the TILs are ready, patients are admitted to the hospital to receive a preparative chemotherapy regimen, then the cancer-fighting cells are infused back into the patient. Patients then receive a growth factor, growing an army of lymphocytes to seek out and destroy tumor cells.