Barts and The London Cancer Centre
Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the UK and rates of skin cancer are increasing rapidly. The management of skin cancer is an increasing part of the work of Barts and The London’s Skin Centre, one of the largest dermatology departments in the UK and the second largest in London.
At Barts and The London Cancer Centre, we treat patients with all forms of skin cancer, including melanoma and the lower risk non-melanoma skin cancers called squamous cell cancer and basal cell cancer.
We treat patients with complex conditions who are referred to us by surrounding district general hospitals in north east London and as far as Essex. We run a weekly multidisciplinary clinic for complex skin cancers at the Royal London Hospital with oncologists, radiotherapists, plastic surgeons, radiologists and a skin cancer clinical nurse specialist.
Melanoma
Barts and The London is one of only a handful of centres in London offering a sentinel lymph node biopsy service for melanoma and other high-risk skin cancers. This test finds out if the skin cancer has spread to the lymph nodes. This is now regarded as a ‘gold standard’ treatment for melanoma.
Photodynamic Therapy (PDT)
We run this service for skin cancer and pre-cancer. It uses laser or other light sources combined with a light-sensitive drug (sometimes a photosensitising agent) to destroy cancer cells, and in some cases is an alternative to surgery for such conditions. This is the only PDT service in the North East Thames area at present.
Squamous cell cancers
Some forms of skin cancer are 100 times more common after an organ transplant, due to a weakened immune system, and therefore patients who have had an organ transplant are at increased risk of squamous cell cancer (SCC). For patients who develop squamous cell cancers after a transplant, we run a dedicated skin clinic. In this clinic, we see all newly transplanted patients and give them advice on skin cancer prevention and detection, and keep them under life-long surveillance. This was the first such clinic in the UK and is now recognised nationally and internationally as the gold standard of care for high-risk patients.
Our service also includes the Family Cancer Clinic for surveillance of individuals and families with atypical mole syndrome and other genetic conditions, who are at increased risk of developing skin cancer.
Each year we treat at least 150 new patients with melanoma, and more than 600 patients with other forms of skin cancer.
We hold the following clinics at The Royal London Hospital:
There is an active research programme into skin cancer and other skin conditions.
Current skin cancer research is focused on investigating various aspects of the epidemiology, causes, treatment and prevention of the three major forms of skin cancer: melanoma, basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Much of this research is undertaken in The Cancer Research UK Skin Tumour Laboratory based in the Centre for Cutaneous Research, Institute of Cell and Molecular Science, Queen Mary University of London.
Among the main skin cancer research projects are:
The role of L-Arg/ASS in melanoma development.
Our patients are also eligible to enter all National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) and European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) skin cancer trials researching new treatments and the numbers of our patients entered in recent years has increased markedly.
Cancerbackup – skin cancer information centre www.cancerbackup.org.uk/Cancertype/Skin
Cancerbackup – melanoma information centre www.cancerbackup.org.uk/Cancertype/Melanoma
The British Association of Dermatology - www.bad.org.uk
The Skin Cancer Foundation - www.skincancer.org
Barts and The London Skin Centre - www.bartsandthelondon.nhs.uk/skincentre