Skin cancer: what every Tampa resident should know.

Tampa is generous with its sun. That is part of why we live here, and it is also why skin cancer is, quietly, one of the most common diagnoses I make. Almost none of it has to be frightening — provided we catch it early.

A Florida context

The ultraviolet index in Tampa runs high most of the year. Cumulative exposure adds up slowly: lunch breaks, dog walks, school drop-offs, tennis mornings, boat weekends. By the time a sun spot is visible, the damage has usually been collecting for a decade or more. Which is also why a person who feels healthy can still have a skin cancer on their shoulder that a dermatologist will spot in thirty seconds.

The three most common skin cancers we treat — basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma — behave very differently. The first two are common and almost always curable when caught at a reasonable size. Melanoma is the one that makes the news, and the one most sensitive to how soon it is found.

When to screen

For adults living in Florida, I recommend a full-body skin exam once a year. More often if you have:

• A personal or family history of skin cancer or melanoma
• More than fifty moles
• Fair skin, light eyes, a history of sunburns in childhood
• A history of tanning beds
• Significant occupational sun exposure
• An organ transplant or a history of immune suppression

A total-body skin exam takes about fifteen to twenty minutes. We use a dermatoscope — a handheld magnifier with polarized light — on any spot that deserves a second look. Most exams end with reassurance. Some end with a small biopsy that takes three minutes. Very few end with a serious diagnosis, but that proportion is exactly why the exam matters.

What Mohs is — and isn’t

Mohs micrographic surgery is the most precise treatment we have for skin cancer on the face, scalp, ears, hands, and lower legs. It works like this: we remove the visible cancer with a very thin margin, process the tissue on-site while the patient waits, and examine one hundred percent of the surgical edge under a microscope. If any cancer cells remain, we take another layer — only in the area that showed positive — and check again. We repeat until the margin is clear, and only then close.

Two things flow from this. Cure rates are the highest of any skin-cancer treatment, and the final defect is the smallest it can anatomically be. That combination is why Mohs is preferred for cosmetically and functionally sensitive areas.

Mohs is not required for every skin cancer. A superficial basal cell on the back may be better served by a simple standard excision or, in some cases, electrodesiccation and curettage. We match the technique to the anatomy and the biology. If you want to understand the trade-offs, our Mohs vs. standard excision comparison walks through them in plain language.

Why early changes everything

A basal cell carcinoma caught at five millimeters is a very different surgery than one caught at two centimeters. A melanoma caught in situ — still confined to the top layer of skin — is effectively cured with a straightforward excision. The same melanoma caught a year later, after it has grown into deeper tissue, becomes a much more serious conversation involving wider margins, lymph-node mapping, and sometimes systemic therapy.

The single most useful thing a Tampa resident can do for their skin health is to have an annual exam and to pay attention between exams. The ABCDE self-check tool on our site is a good pocket guide. The rule of thumb is simple: anything new, changing, bleeding, or not healing deserves thirty seconds of a dermatologist’s attention.

Sunscreen, briefly

Use it every day, not only at the beach. A mineral SPF 30 or higher is fine. Reapply every two hours outdoors. A hat does more than a shirt. The boat and the car count. Most of the UV damage I see on faces has happened through windshields.

If something catches your eye

Call or request a visit. Show up with the spot you’re unsure about, and any older photos of it. Skin cancer is a condition that rewards attention and forgives almost nothing about delay.

— Dr. Alexander Dane