TAMPA, Fla. — It's a skin cancer treatment option that doctors say involves no cutting, no scarring, and no pain, and now, electron beam therapy is available for the first time in Tampa Bay at  ForCare Medical Center, which began offering the treatment in July.

"It's been non-stop since with patients that are very interested in the procedure," said Dr. Seth B. Forman, a dermatologist at the center. "They have appropriate lesions in areas that are cosmetically sensitive, like eye lids, noses, lips, ears, places like where they really need the spare tissue. These patients do not want to go through another surgery."

John Tanke, 60, is one of those patients. Tanke is three weeks into six weeks of electron beam therapy to treat basal cell carcinoma on his lip.

According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, it's the most common form of skin cancer, with 3.6 million cases diagnosed every year.

"It's very quick, so it's in and out and I get back to whatever I need to do during the day," Tanke said. "It's longer in terms of days, but it's less invasive. There's no cutting, no scarring, no plastic surgery or anything like that."

Tanke said he'll go to ForCare five days a week for a total of 32 sessions. The treatment is performed with a machine called an adaptive linear accelerator and takes just minutes.

Doctors continuously monitor his progress, and while Tanke said it's painless, he is experiencing some irritation. 

"Still better than surgery, I think," he said, following a recent session.

ForCare is the first doctor's office in Tampa Bay and second in the country to offer electron beam therapy.

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the U.S. and worldwide, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation, with one in five Americans developing it by age 70. When diagnosed early, 99% of cases are treatable.

For more information on early detection, visit the Skin Cancer Foundation's website.