Kathryn Colbert, an active, 30-year-old female, has come in for her annual wellness exam with Dr. Sanborn. She has a fair complexion and has always been very sensitive to sunlight. As a child and a teenager, Kathryn suffered many severe sunburns. Over the past two months, she has noticed a small sore on the back of her neck, which she thought was a pimple. The sore has not gone away. Occasionally it bleeds a bit, gets better, and then begins to bleed again. After examining Kathryn’s neck, Dr. Sanborn decides that Kathryn should see a dermatologist, a specialist in the diagnosis and treatment of skin diseases and conditions. He recommends Dr. Gupta, who decides to do a biopsy on the sore. When the results come back, Dr. Gupta informs Kathryn that she has the most common type of skin cancer, but that it is slow-growing and seldom spreads.
What kind of treatment do you think Kathryn’s dermatologist will prescribe for her slow-growing skin cancer? Explain your answer.