Skin cancer is a condition of uncontrolled growth of cells in one or more layers of the skin. It is the most common form of cancer in the United States. They are so common that almost everyone will have some form of skin cancer sometime during the course of their life. The younger the age at which the first one is identified the greater the risk that you will have multiple skin cancers over the course of your life. The primary cause is prolonged and/or intermittent overexposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Therefore most of these skin cancers appear on parts of the body unprotected from/exposed to the sun such as the face or nose. Removal of skin cancers from the nose is challenging because there is usually insufficient skin laxity to allow simple closure of the resulting wound. Basal cell carcinoma is the most common type of skin cancer.

In this case as in most such cases the treatment was surgical removal of the basal cell carcinoma, closure of the resulting wound by advancing local tissue and confirmation of complete basal cell carcinoma removal by examination of the removed tissue by a pathologist. The reason to see a plastic surgeon is to get complete removal and closure of the defect through surgical techniques that yield the best cosmetic result without functional deficit. Usually that means surgical manipulation of adjacent tissue rather than skin grafting or too tight a closure that causes other problems. In this patient the desired result is scars within natural boundaries of the nose, intact nasal outlines, patent nostrils without deformation on breathing and coverage of the defect with skin that is closest in character to normal nasal skin.

Basal cell carcinoma surgery can enhance your appearance and your self confidence. Realistic expectations are important to be happy with any surgery. As each patient is an individual, different results can be expected in each patient.