Our clinics will be closed on Labor Day, Monday, September 1, and will reopen on Tuesday, September 2.
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Attention GCI Patients — Effective October 6, 2025, the GCI Oak Lawn location will be closed. All patients of GCI Oak Lawn will be seen at our Chicago Ridge location at 10604 Southwest Highway, Suite 109, Chicago Ridge, IL 60415.

Education Resources

Melanoma Diagnosis

If the doctor suspects that a spot on the skin is melanoma, the patient will need to have a biopsy. A biopsy is the only way to make a definite diagnosis. In this procedure, the doctor tries to remove all of the suspicious-looking growth. This is an excisional biopsy. If the growth is too large to be removed entirely, the doctor removes a sample of the tissue. The doctor will never “shave off” or cauterize a growth that might be melanoma.

A biopsy can usually be done in the doctor’s office using local anesthesia. A pathologist then examines the tissue under a microscope to check for cancer cells. Sometimes it is helpful for more than one pathologist to check the tissue for cancer cells.