Carcinoma in situ

Hi Chachacha and a very warm welcome to the skin cancer group which I hope you'll find is both an informative and supportive place to be.

I haven't had intraepidermal carcinoma in situ so I had to look it up of the British Association of Dermatologist's website and found this leaflet which explains what it is and how it's treated, if treatment is necessary.

Usually with skin cancers that are in situ, the cancer cells are confined to the top layer of the skin and have not started to spread or grow into deeper layers of the skin. Some doctors call in situ cancers ‘pre-cancer’, which possibly explains why both the terms 'in situ' and 'pre-cancer' have been used in your letter.

Other than telling you the findings of the biopsy, is the letter giving you an appointment with a consultant or are they happy that you don't need any further treatment?

Thank you so much for taking the trouble to reply.  The letter did say no further treatment and I know you are all probably thinking ‘get a grip’! My background has left me a nervous wreck I’m afraid and this week has been bad as I had an abdominal bleed and ended up in hospital.  Then read this letter at 6pm tonight it took me by surprise as I was t expecting it. 
thanks again for your reply it’s is appreciated,

( as an aside, during the hysterectomy which perforated my bowel, they tried to remove my rectum ( long standing stoma but they’d left rectum in so it’s a cancer risk). They failed to remove the rectum and my bowel perforated so now it can’t even be checked for changes , I’m living in fear of something developing ) 

It sounds like you've been through so much Chachacha so it's understandable why you'd worry when you received the letter.

Certainly no one here would think that you needed to "get a grip" as we all understand the stress of going through tests and treatment along with the worry of recurrence.

((hugs))

Hi, so sorry to hear you are having such a tough time.  I do so hope things start to improve for you soon.   I have Bowens disease and have treated a patch on my face with Efudex.  I had to treat it twice a day for eight weeks to get rid of the patch.   I have had another couple of small patches come up on my face again and I’m going to have to tackle those again.  I was very lucky with Efudex as it didn’t cause me any real discomfort, apparently some people do get very sore skin from from using it.  You can always ask about using this cream if you want to get rid of the problem.  Good luck and best wishes.  Anything I can do to help please let me know.  x 

Thanks Mandy for your reply.

it just came as a shock as I’m dealing with so many other serious things.  I have eye probkem which requires steroids which have now given me cataract, it’s never ending.

How can they say in one sentence it’s carcinoma in situ yet in the next it’s was a pre cancer that doesn’t require further attention as it’s been excised,  seems a contradiction in terms .

m6 husband hd something on his ear and he used the cream and it burnt him but he used it for weeks every day

he’s laid back about everythung, wish I was ! 

Hi again Chachacha 

The terms 'in situ' and 'pre-cancer' effectively both mean the same thing. The proper scientific term is 'in situ' but lots of doctors describe it as pre-cancer so that their patients understand what they're dealing with.

If you look at the leaflet I linked you to in my first reply you'll see it there too.

I hope this helps clear the terms up for you 

Hi, if it said it has been excised then you have nothing to worry further about.  It did not mention in your post that it had been excised.  They will have checked that they had removed it complety already and no further treatment is needed and would not have said that if they were not sure.  You can always check with someone medical if you are still worried but it seems all is well.  You ve so much to deal with it is not surprising you are feeling overwhelmed.   I really think you can now relax in relation to this particular issue though and put it behind you.  Lots of x