Service Information
Skin cancer diagnosis at Ipswich Hospital
Skin cancer diagnosis
In order to diagnose your cancer, we may perform one or more of the tests below. We will discuss what is involved in each test when we see you in clinic. Please ask us about anything that you do not understand.
- diagnostic service by expert clinicians for pre-malignant and malignant skin lesions
- dermoscopy of pigmented lesions
- computerised Tomography (CT) scanning for clinical staging in advanced disease
- positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanning for clinical staging in advanced disease
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan
- Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA) guided ultrasound
- biopsy – we take a small sample of your skin and send it to the lab for analysis
If you are attending for a surgical procedure (such as a biopsy), an appointment as a day case usually takes 30-60 minutes. We will give you follow-up advice before you leave the department.
If you are awaiting biopsy results, please contact the secretarial team or the Macmillan skin cancer clinical nurse specialist who can liaise with your consultant.