Moles & Skin Cancer
Initial consultation
During your initial consultation, Miss Odili will take your full medical history and carry out a comprehensive risk assessment, as well as a dermascopic examination of all your moles. Joy Odili is a Consultant with a special interest in Skin Cancer. Any suspicious moles will be photographed and removed for testing. She will take the time to ensure that any concerns you have may be addressed during the consultation and throughout your treatment.
Treatment of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer
(in accordance with NICE guidelines)
If you are identified as having a non-melanoma or melanoma skin cancer, you can rest assured that your treatment will be managed according to the current national guidelines set by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).
Miss Odili has extensive professional experience in the diagnosis and treatment of skin malignancies and will work closely with a dedicated multi-disciplinary team to manage your treatment. All treatment options will be discussed with you and Miss Odili will listen carefully to your needs and questions before offering the appropriate options.
Sentinel node biopsy
Sentinel node biopsy is a surgical procedure where one or more lymph nodes are removed, in order to see whether melanoma has spread to the lymph glands. This procedure provides additional information which can help with staging your disease. It can be carried out as a Day-case procedure.
During the procedure a weak radioactive agent is injected around the melanoma scar to allow the sentinel (first draining) node(s) to be found on a special xray. Intraoperatively, blue dye is also used to locate the sentinel node(s). This is removed and sent to the laboratory for testing. If found to contain melanoma deposits, patient can be offered further treatment earlier.
Isolated limb infusion
Once melanoma has spread beyond the initial site, treatment becomes challenging. Some patients with In-transit metastases (where there are many deposits of melanoma in a limb travelling towards the lymph nodes) may benefit from Isolated Limb Infusion. This procedure is carried out in only a hand-full of centres in the UK.
Miss Odili has a special interest in the treatment of skin malignancies and much of her career to date has been devoted to researching and developing strategies for the effective treatment of skin cancer. As such, you can rest assured that your care is in the safest of hands.
Lymph node clearance
In cases where skins cancer has spread to the lymph glands, or the sentinel node biopsy is positive, you may be advised to undergo a lymph node clearance. Miss Odili will discuss your options with you, to enable you make an informed decision at each stage of your disease.
Long term follow-up for at-risk patients and patients diagnosed with skin cancer
If you are identified as a patient who is at risk of developing a melanoma or non-melanoma cancer in the future, you will be invited to attend regular consultations with Miss Odili, so that she can monitor your health and wellbeing moving forward. If you have any concerns between these appointments, you are welcome to contact Miss Odili through her secretary for an examination and risk assessment.
If you are diagnosed with any form of skin cancer, Joy will work closely with you from your initial diagnosis and throughout your treatment. Miss Odili has extensive experience in the causes, symptoms and treatment of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers, and is a member of the Government’s Melanoma Taskforce. As a result, she is a highly sought after member of the medical community and your care could not be in better hands. Miss Odili will discuss all your treatment options with you and will be a key member of the multi-disciplinary team responsible for your care.
