TAMPA, Fla. — ForCare Medical Center is about to be the first doctor's office in Tampa Bay and the second in the country to offer electron beam therapy skin cancer treatment.

"This new piece of equipment is going to offer an alternative to surgeries because patients with multiple skin cancers, or even one skin cancer, have oftentimes required surgery in order to remove them," said Dr. Seth B. Forman, dermatologist and owner of ForCare Medical Center. "After a certain period of time and after patients have had multiple skin cancers, they become very leery of having surgery."

Radiation oncologist Dr. Jennifer Gerson said the actual machine used to provide the treatments is an adaptive linear accelerator changed to specifically treat early skin cancers. It's being built in a new wing of ForCare. During treatment, electrons are accelerated and directed through the machine to penetrate a few millimeters into the skin, killing the rapidly dividing cells, Gerson said. According to her, studies have shown the treatment to be about 95% effective at curing early skin cancers. Treatment typically requires multiple sessions during a four- to six-week period.

"Patients who have skin cancers that are on their nose, their ears, or other cosmetically sensitive areas, the electron beam therapy allows curative treatment without causing scarring," Gerson said.

That's why Bonnie Harlow of Lutz said she's choosing electron beam therapy rather than traditional surgery for the skin cancer on her nose.

"I can come over and have my little thing — doink," she said, pointing to where the beam will target her cancer. "Go on out or have lunch or brunch, and nobody will ever know where I've been."

Forman said his office treats thousands of cases of skin cancer each year. The surgery fatigue he sees in patients who have had multiple surgeries can cause an unwanted ripple effect, he said.

"Patients will delay appointments, they skip appointments," Forman said. "They'll do things in order to try and hide or mask what they may have going on."

When it comes to the pandemic, he said it not only caused people to delay appointments, but his office is also seeing an increase in skin cancers that developed on the area of the face covered by masks.

"Patients haven't really noticed it, nor have their family members," he said of skin cancers that may have developed in places like the nose, cheek, or lips. 

On top of no scarring, doctors said there's no recovery time and no need to stop medications, like blood thinners, ahead of the procedures.

It's expected the equipment at ForCare will begin performing electron beam therapy in the coming weeks.