Skin cancer generally appears within the first two to three millimeters of the surface of the skin.

“The traditional way to treat skin cancer is surgery,” said Dr. Jeffrey Brackeen, with the Skin Cancer Institute of Lubbock.

The SRT-100, he said, provides a non-invasive treatment option for skin cancer patients.

The tool is relatively new to his clinic and can be used for the removal of most non-invasive and non-melanoma skin cancers, Brackeen said. It can also be used to remove keloid scars.

The technology, itself, he said, is not new. But it’s new to Lubbock.

According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, skin cancer is the most common type of cancer and more new cases are diagnosed than cases of breast, prostate, lung and colon cancers combined.

More than 5.4 million cases of non-melanoma skin cancer are treated in the United States every year, according to the foundation.

The machine has an adjustable arm that can be placed wherever it needs to go on the body, Brackeen said. It works by targeting the affected area and emitting a low dose of radiation to remove the cancer through a series of treatments.

Joe Sardano, CEO of Sensus Healthcare, the company that created the SRT-100, said the radiation only radiates through about five millimeters of the surface of the skin.

“It only impacts the cancer, itself,” Sardano said. “It preserves good tissue.”

It can be used to treat skin cancers on almost any part of the body, he said.

The piece of technology has been around for almost 10 years and it’s gone through several upgrades, Sardano said. But few people know it exists.

Right now, Sardano said, the Skin Cancer Institute is the only known practice in Lubbock that uses it.

Source: Lubbock Avalanche-Journal