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Dr. Yang Xia —
Fighting Skin Cancer One Cancerous Cell at a Time
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r. Yang Xia of SkinMD decided early on that he
wanted to go into medicine, and with multiple
family members who were afflicted with cancer, he
watched the doctors that provided their care and set his
sights on helping people through medicine.
Dr. Xia served in the U.S. Army, earning the rank of
major. He had deployments in Afghanistan and earned
a Bronze Star for his service in the Craig Joint Theater
Hospital. He is a graduate of West Point and studied
medicine at the Uniform Service University of the
Health Sciences in Bethesda, completing his dermatol-
ogy training at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and
the Bethesda Naval Hospital. During his down time, Dr.
Xia exercises five days a week and spends as much time
as possible with his family.
He enjoys the practice of dermatology because the
specialty includes surgery, pathology and clinical medi-
cine.
“With skin cancers continually on the rise, I
completed a fellowship in dermatologic surgery because
I feel I can provide the most positive impact by remov-
ing dangerous skin cancers,” he said of his specialty.
His daily practice includes performing Mohs
Micrographic Surgery procedures.
“These entail the removal of life-threatening skin
cancers from cosmetically sensitive areas using a tech-
nique that targets the cancerous tissue and spares the
healthy tissue,” he explained. His Mohs surgery fellow-
ship was with Dr. Hugh Greenway at Scripps Clinic in
La Jolla, CA. While there, Dr. Xia performed over 1,500
Mohs surgery cases and over 1,300 complicated wound
repairs to include cutaneous flaps and grafts.
As in many kinds of cancer, Dr. Xia says prevention
is the key. He advocates staying out of the sun during
peak hours, avoiding tanning beds and always using a
sunscreen of at least 30 SPF when you are outside. The
sunscreen should be applied 30 minutes before going
into the sunshine.
Part of what makes medicine interesting to Dr. Xia is
its ever-changing dynamic.
“There will always be changes in medicine based
on the political and socio-economic climate. However,
our number one priority as physicians should always be
focused on quality and cost-efficient patient care,” he
said.
He has many success stories, but one in particu-
lar involved a young patient with a melanoma on
her nose. The entire tip of her nose was completely
removed during the procedure.
“She was extremely devastated with the cosmetic
outcome, but I was able to use a specialized repair
technique to recreate her nose. The patient was extremely
happy with the results and continues to send me a
Christmas card every year,” Dr. Xia said.
“Surgery was my favorite part of dermatology and I
decided to make it my life’s work. It was once said by
someone wise that, ‘If you find something to do that you
love; you will never have to work a day in your life.’
Mohs surgery is thoroughly enjoyable work and brings
me so much satisfaction seeing patients cured of their
skin cancer. I have a special interest in reconstructive
procedures. My goal is to achieve the best results and
preserve functional capabilities while maximizing aesthet-
ics,” he said.