Treatments for skin cancers and precancerous lesions depend on their size, type, depth and location. Most treatments use a local anesthetic in an outpatient setting. Here are options for treating skin cancers:

• Excisional surgery — The cancer and a margin of healthy skin are cut out (excised). Excision is used in all types of skin cancers.

      Wide excision (taking extra, normal skin around the tumor) is generally the best treatment for melanoma. Excision may require a physician skilled in reconstruction techniques to hide scarring, especially on your face.

• Cryosurgery — Actinic keratoses and some small, early cancers can be destroyed by freezing with liquid nitrogen. The dead tissue sloughs off when it thaws. The treatment can leave a small, white scar and may need to be repeated to remove the growth completely.

• Curettage and electrodesiccation — The cancer is scraped away using a circular blade called a curette. An electric needle destroys any remaining cancer cells.

      This simple, quick procedure is most often used to treat small or thin basal cell cancers. It leaves a flat, white scar.

• Mohs micrographic surgery — This is used to treat larger, recurring, or difficult-to-treat skin cancers — both basal cell and squamous cell. The growth is shaved and microscopically examined layer by layer until no abnormal cells remain.

      In general, Mohs surgery is the most likely to eliminate the cancer without removing excessive surrounding healthy skin.

• Laser therapy — A precise, intense light beam vaporizes growths, generally with little damage to surrounding tissues. Bleeding, swelling and scarring are minimized. Laser therapy is used occasionally to treat superficial skin cancers and precancerous growths on the lip.

• Radiation therapy — Daily radiation treatments, usually for 1 to 4 weeks, may be used to destroy basal cell and squamous cell skin cancers in people unable to undergo surgery.