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Cancer seems to be all around us.
Fortunately, our treatment armamentarium keeps getting better for many cancers.
We now have more cures despite an increasing incidence of cancer.
Traditional treatments include chemotherapy, radiation treatment,
and new targeted biologics.
But radiation treatment, a very common one,
involves little skin tattoos called radiation markers.
Today, I’ll tell you why those markers are used
and how you can have them removed by charitable initiatives,
at no cost, when your cancer treatment is finished.
Hello,
I’m Dr. Neal Schultz
[pause]
And welcome to DermTV.
When a patient is treated with radiation therapy,
to insure that the radiation beam hits the tumor
in exactly the same place each time, before treatment starts,
little permanent black tattoos are painlessly placed in the skin
at strategic locations to help align the beam at subsequent treatments.
While the most common cancer these are used for is breast cancer,
they’re also used for others.
Some good news is that more and more women
are being cured of breast cancer,
but often have an unnecessary lingering visual reminder
of their previous disease in the form of their radiation markers,
which like all tattoos, can last forever.
But wait! I said that they’re actually tiny tattoos
and dermatologists and other physicians have lasers
that remove tattoos every day,
tattoos much bigger and more complex than the tiny radiation markers.
For over a decade, as a public service,
I've removed these radiation markers at no cost
from my patients with tattoo removal lasers.
And now a new national campaign has been launched
by the American Society for Laser Surgery and Medicine to do the same:
remove radiation markers when they are no longer needed.
There is no cost for this service,
and I’m proud to tell you that over 100 physicians are participating
in this national program.
It’s called the “New Beginnings: Radiation Mark Removal Program”.
To find a participating physician near you go to
http://www.aslms.org/newbeginnings … that's one word…
new beginnings or call 877-258-6028.
Again, there is no cost for this service.
If you’ve beat your cancer and want your radiation marker removed,
welcome to your New Beginning!