Surgery
There are different types of surgery for non melanoma skin cancer. The surgery you have depends on many factors. These include:
the type of skin cancer you have
the size of the cancer and how far it has grown
where it is in your body
Find out more about the different types of non melanoma skin cancer
If your GP has had specialist training, then they might be able to remove a low risk skin cancer at the GP surgery. Low risk cancers are less likely to come back after treatment.
Or they might refer you to a skin specialist at the hospital.
There are guidelines for GPs to help them decide who needs a referral to a . This is a team of doctors and other professionals who discuss the best treatment for you.
Find out more about when your GP might refer you to a specialist
Surgery is usually minor for small cancers. You can have it under and go home on the same day. For larger cancers you might need a bigger operation under .
Your doctor will discuss your treatment options with you. And tell you about the benefits and possible side effects.
An excisional biopsy is when your doctor removes the affected area of skin and a small amount of the surrounding healthy . You might have an excisional biopsy to both diagnose and treat a skin cancer at the same time.
Your doctor gives you a local anaesthetic to numb the area.
Then your doctor removes the whole abnormal area. They also remove an area of healthy tissue from around it. This is called a healthy margin. They remove the healthy margin to make sure that they have taken away all of the cancer.
The doctor sends the area they removed to the laboratory. A specialist doctor (pathologist) looks at it under a microscope. They tell your doctor if it is cancer and what type it is. They also check the healthy tissue to make sure they removed enough tissue.
You usually have stitches to close the skin up afterwards.
Your care after surgery depends on where it is on your body and how big the wound is.
You might have a small amount of pain when the local anaesthetic wears off. Taking simple such as paracetamol will help.
You usually have a dressing on your wound. Your doctor will tell you when to take this off. Your nurse removes the stitches after one or two weeks if they are non-dissolvable. You can make an appointment at your GP surgery to do this.
You might need further surgery to remove more tissue. This is to make sure the doctors remove all the cancer with a large enough healthy margin.
This is when your doctor cuts away the cancer and uses an electric needle to kill any cancer cells in nearby tissue. This is sometimes called curettage and cautery (C and C).
Your doctor usually numbs the area with a local anaesthetic. They use either a small spoon shaped tool or ring shaped blade (curette). They scoop out or scrape away the cancer and the tissue around it, layer by layer.
They use an electric needle to kill the cells immediately around the wound in case there are any cancer cells left behind. This also stops any bleeding.
You might need this 2 or 3 times to make sure all the cancer is gone. Or you might only need it once if you have a very small cancer.
You might have a small amount of pain when the local anaesthetic wears off. Taking simple painkillers such as paracetamol will help.
You don’t have any stitches with this type of surgery. The area will scab over. Your doctor will tell you how to look after your wound and when to remove the dressing.
Cryosurgery uses extreme cold, with liquid nitrogen, to remove the skin cancer. It is also called cryotherapy.
The doctor puts liquid nitrogen onto your skin to freeze the cancer. They usually spray the liquid nitrogen on. But they can use a metal probe or sometimes a cotton bud.
The liquid nitrogen feels very cold. A scab forms over the next few days. This then drops off within the next couple of weeks taking the cancer cells with it. You can't have cryosurgery on skin areas near sensitive body parts, such as the eye.
The treated area will look white from freezing. It only takes a few minutes for your skin to return to its previous colour.
Your doctor might repeat the process during your appointment. Or they might organise for you to come back again.
You might feel a small amount of pain and discomfort while you have the treatment and for a short time afterwards. You don’t usually need painkillers. But if you do, simple painkillers such as paracetamol can help.
The area usually gets red and inflamed. This goes away after about 2 to 3 days as a scab starts to form. You might also see a watery liquid leak from the site. This is normal and happens for a short time.
The treated area might develop blisters. These usually get better after a few days as a scab starts to form. But sometimes they don't and they may be filled with blood. Contact the doctor or GP who did the operation.
Wide local excision is surgery to remove a larger area of healthy skin and tissue. You have this if the doctor thinks there might still be skin cancer cells in the nearby tissue. Removing this wider area of tissue helps reduce the risk of the cancer coming back. You have this surgery at the hospital.
You might have this treatment while you are awake with a local anaesthetic. Or under , so you are asleep for the operation. The amount of tissue the doctor removes depends on:
the size and type of the cancer
where it is on the body
how much tissue the doctor removed if you had an excision biopsy
Sometimes the doctor removes a large area of skin. To repair this, you might need a skin graft or skin flap. You can read more about having a skin graft or skin flap below.
You usually have stitches or glue to close the wound. This might feel a little tight at first. As it heals, the surrounding skin will stretch and the tightness should ease. You may have a waterproof dressing over the stitches. Your doctor will tell you how to look after the wound.
Read more about what happens after a wide local excision
A skin graft is an operation to replace an area of skin. You might have this if your surgeon had to remove a large area of skin. The surgeon removes a thin sheet of skin from another part of your body. This is the donor site. They use it to cover the area where they removed the skin.
The donor site usually comes from somewhere not too obvious, such as your inner thigh.
You have a skin graft during the operation to remove your cancer. You may have a local or general anaesthetic. A usually does the operation.
The surgeon shaves off the sheet of skin using a special instrument or cuts out the donor site. They then put a dressing on top of the donor site.
You don't usually need stitches if your surgeon shaves the donor site. It will heal on its own. If your surgeon cuts the donor site, then you have stitches to repair the skin.
After a skin graft, your nurses and doctors will keep a close eye on your wound site. This is to make sure the site is getting a good supply of blood, which brings oxygen and nutrients to the healing tissues.
Read more about what happens after a skin graft
A skin flap is another way to repair a large wound. The surgeon uses a flap of skin and the tissue from underneath it. The skin flap has its own blood supply and comes from an area next to where the skin cancer was.
Only specially trained (a skin specialist) or plastic surgeons do skin flaps. There are different types of skin flap. You might need more than one operation. Your surgeon will explain what you need before you have the operation.
You have this treatment under local or general anaesthetic. The surgeon takes the flap from close to your wound. The cut (incision) is usually deeper than that of a skin graft. The skin is left partly connected to its original site. This means the skin flap is still connected to your blood supply so is likely to heal well. The flap is then positioned over your wound and stitched in place.
The surgeon uses stitches or staples to close the area where they took the skin flap from. They then cover it with a dressing. In some cases, you might need a skin graft to close this site.
After a skin flap, your nurses and doctors will keep a close eye on your wound site. This is to make sure the site is getting a good supply of blood, which brings oxygen and nutrients to the healing tissues.
Read more about what happens after a skin flap
Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) is also called margin controlled excision. It is a specialist type of surgery and you might need to go to a different hospital to have it.
The surgeon removes the cancer layer by layer and checks each layer under a microscope while you wait. They aim to remove all the skin cancer and leave as much healthy skin tissue as possible.
Find out more about Mohs micrographic surgery
You may have an operation at the hospital to remove nearby if they contain cancer cells. This isn’t a common operation for non melanoma skin cancers. But you might have it if has spread to your lymph nodes.
The surgery you have depends on where the skin cancer is. For example, if you have a skin cancer on your scalp or face, the surgeon might need to remove the lymph nodes on the same side of your neck.
Find out more about lymph node removal in our melanoma skin cancer section
Last reviewed: 16 May 2026
Next review due: 16 Jun 2029
You usually have surgery to treat skin cancer, but you may have other treatments such as chemotherapy cream, radiotherapy, targeted and immunotherapy or photodynamic therapy.
Surgery is the main treatment for some cancers. You may also have it for other reasons. But what happens before, during and after surgery, normally depends on the type of cancer and your general health.
Non melanoma skin cancer includes basal cell skin cancer, squamous cell skin cancer and other rare types.
Non melanoma skin cancer includes basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and other rare types. They tend to develop most often on skin that has been exposed to the sun.
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