.....A Web site dedicated to the millions of Americans who have developed or will develop skin cancer.

.....A Web site dedicated to improving patient health and cure rates through accurate patient education. The skin is truly amazing, not only is it the largest organ in the body, but it is one of the few organs we can readily view without special instruments. Viewing and understanding the skin can be powerful aids in maintaining the quality of care necessary to protect you, and those you care about, from skin disease.

.....This is one of the few Web sites in America that has a built-in glossary so that readers will be able to find and understand easily the many technical "medicalese" terms that may be encountered on other Web sites or in other literature about skin cancer. You can click to locate the glossary and index. All photographs presented in this Web site are true and un-retouched.

......This Web site is under construction and re-construction from time to time. Please call us if you notice any technical difficulties that we can improve for our readers - we may ask you to fax or e-mail in any suggestions/corrections/comments on any problems operating the website. We urge you to re-visit it periodically to see what new things have been added and what modifications have been made. It may be best to browse the glossary first, then read the various topics in their suggested order.

......This Web site is intended to bridge technical medicine and common English so readers will have a very thorough understanding of skin cancer and the many ways to treat it. No one skin-cancer treatment is best for every patient in every situation. There is a need for virtually every type of skin-cancer treatment depending upon patient age, patient situation and type of skin cancer. Most importantly, please appreciate that there is very little that is absolute or "black and white" in medicine and that the words "always" and "never" should be used only rarely. There are vast gray zones. Understanding these gray zones will make readers much more aware of the treatment(s) that may help them, their friends and family the most. For example, there are certain types of melanoma that are much less dangerous than many types of squamous-cell carcinoma. As well, there are some types of basal-cell carcinoma that are much more dangerous to a patient's health than the average squamous-cell carcinoma. Again, nothing is etched in stone when it comes to skin cancer and its treatment. In this Web site, we will also attempt to provide the reader with an understanding of University-quality medicine.

......We understand that this Web site may seem long and complex. We feel that it would be best for the reader to digest one small area of our Web site at a time, possibly visiting a single sub-section on any given day.

• Thanks to the fine and kind professors and teachers that encouraged me though the years.
  
• Thanks to my patients and their enduring patience, without which none of this would be possible.
  
• Thanks to my principal editor Kay Latona.
  
• Thanks to my production staff and secondary editors, Darlene Tomlinson, Steven Hall and Christine Walker.
  
• Thanks to Dave O'Berto, of Toshiba, USA, for providing the excellent Toshiba laptop computers used to compile and prepare the bulk of this Web site.
  
• My thanks to the many doctors and legal experts who reviewed individual chapters whose opinions and input were invaluable.
  
• Many thanks to the fine professors and doctors of The Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins and other major medical institutions and universities for reviewing large portions of this Web site.
  
• Many thanks to the state Dermatologic Society Presidents, past and present, who reviewed and improved this Web site; their support and suggestions were invaluable.