Description

Skin cancer is the cancer that begins as a growth of the cells in the skin. The cells can invade and destroy healthy body tissue. Sometimes cells break away and spread to other parts of the body.

Many types of skin cancer there are. The most common of the skin cancers are basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. Although these are the most common, often can be cured. The most dangerous form of skin cancer is melanoma. It is more likely to spread, it is more difficult to cure.

Most skin cancers occur on skin that receives a great amount of sunlight. The light from the sun is thought to cause most skin cancers. You can reduce your risk of cancer of skin that covers your skin with clothing or sunscreen to protect you from the sun.

Some skin cancers occur in the skin that do not usually reach the sun. This probably means that something is the cause of these cancers. To reduce the risk of these types of skin cancers, check your skin regularly for any changes. Report these changes to your health professional.

Symptoms

What skin cancer looks like

The signs and symptoms of skin cancer are:

  • A new growth of skin that may have the appearance of a mole, a blow, or a scab.
  • A bump in the skin.
  • A sore on the skin that do not heal.
  • Changes in a mole or freckle, such as make bigger or change color.
  • Itching of the skin around a skin growth.
  • Pain around a growth of the skin.

Where skin cancer happens

The majority of skin cancers occur on the parts of the body that get a lot of sun. This includes the scalp, the face, the lips and ears. Other parts of the body that could reach the sun, which include the arms, back of the hands, back and legs.

Skin cancer can also occur on the skin that normally are not exposed to the sun. This includes the palms of the hands, genitals, and under the nails of the hands and feet. When the cancer of the skin that occurs in people with Black or brown skin, which tends to happen in these places that are not normally exposed to the sun.

When to see a doctor

Make an appointment with a doctor or other health care professional if you notice any changes in your skin that you worry.

Causes

The majority of skin cancers are caused by exposure to the light of the sun. The light from the sun is a type of ultraviolet light. Which type of light can also come from tanning beds and sunlamps. The ultraviolet light contains the radiation changes the DNA inside the skin cells and causes skin cancer.

Not all skin cancers occur on skin that typically gets a lot of sun. This means something more also cause skin cancer. It's not always clear what causes skin cancer. But health professionals have found some factors that increase the risk. These include having a weakened immune system and having a family history of skin cancer.

Skin cancer begins when the cells of the skin to develop changes in their DNA. A cell's DNA contains the instructions that tell the cell what to do. In healthy cells, the DNA tells the cells to grow and multiply at a set rate. The DNA also tells the cells to die at a set time.

In cancer cells, changes in DNA to give different instructions. The changes tell cancer cells to grow and multiply quickly. Cancer cells can continue living when healthy cells would die. This makes too many cells.

The cancerous cells can invade and destroy healthy body tissue. At the time, cancer cells can break off and spread to other parts of the body. When cancer spreads, it is called metastatic cancer.

Risk factors

Factors that may increase the risk of skin cancer are:

  • Skin burns easily. Any person of any skin color, can get skin cancer. But the risk is greater in people with skin burns easily. The risk of skin cancer is also greater in people who have blond or red hair, light-colored eyes or freckles.
  • The light of the sun. Ultraviolet light from the sun increases the risk of skin cancer. Cover the skin with clothing or sunscreen can help reduce the risk.
  • The light of the tanning beds. People who use indoor tanning beds have a higher risk of skin cancer. The lights used in tanning beds emit harmful ultraviolet light.
  • A history of sunburn. After having had one or more sunburns that raised blisters increases the risk of developing skin cancer. If the sun burns that occurred during childhood, increase the risk of developing skin cancer as an adult, even more.
  • A history of skin cancer. People who have had skin cancer once are much more likely to get it again.
  • A family history of skin cancer. If a blood relative, such as a father or a brother, had skin cancer, you may be more likely to get skin cancer.
  • A weakened immune system. If the body's germ-fighting immune system is weakened by the drug or the disease, there may be an increased risk of skin cancer. People with weakened immune systems include those who take medications to control the immune system, such as after an organ transplant. Some health conditions, such as HIV infection, can also weaken the immune system.

Prevention

The majority of skin cancers can be prevented by protecting yourself from the sun. To reduce the risk of skin cancer, you may:

  • Stay out of the sun during the middle of the day. For a large part of North America, the sun's rays are strongest between 10 am and 3 pm Plan outdoor activities at other times of the day. When you are out, stay in the shade as much as possible.
  • Use sunscreen all year round. The use of a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30, even on cloudy days. Apply sunscreen generously. Re-apply every two hours, or more often if you're swimming or perspiring.
  • Wear protective clothing. The wear and tear of the dark, tightly woven clothing that covers the arms and legs. Wear a wide-brimmed hat that covers the face and the ears. Don't forget the sunglasses.
  • Do not use tanning beds. The lights in tanning beds emit ultraviolet light. The use of tanning beds increases the risk of skin cancer.
  • Check your skin often and report any changes to your health care team.Look at your skin often for new growth. Look for changes in moles, freckles, bumps and birthmarks. Use mirrors for checking your face, neck, ears and scalp. Look at your chest and trunk, and upper and lower part of the arms and hands. Look in the front and the back of her legs and feet. Look at the bottom of the feet and the spaces between the toes. Also make sure that your genital area and between your buttocks.

Check your skin often and report any changes to your health care team. Look at your skin often for new growth. Look for changes in moles, freckles, bumps and birthmarks. Use mirrors for checking your face, neck, ears and scalp.

Look at your chest and trunk, and upper and lower part of the arms and hands. Look in the front and the back of her legs and feet. Look at the bottom of the feet and the spaces between the toes. Also make sure that your genital area and between your buttocks.

Diagnosis

A diagnosis of cancer of the skin often begins with an examination of your skin. A health professional can remove some of the skin to test for cancer.

Examination of skin cancer

A health professional may start by asking about your symptoms and looking at your skin.

Skin cancer biopsy

A biopsy is a procedure to remove a sample of tissue for testing in a lab. To get a piece of skin, a health care professional can use a cutting tool to cut some or all of the worrying growth of the skin. Often, a biopsy of the skin that occurs in a health care professional for the office. Medicine numbs the area so you don't feel pain.

The tissue of the skin of the sample goes to a lab for analysis. The tests can show if the sample contains cancerous cells.

Skin cancer test testing

Some people with cancer of the skin may need other tests to find out if the cancer has spread. This is called staging of the cancer. The stage of the cancer says that the health care team about your size and whether it has spread.

Not all people with skin cancer of the needs of cancer staging. Most skin cancers do not spread. For example, basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma are not likely to spread. These are the most common types of skin cancer. If your healthcare professional thinks that there is a risk that the cancer may have spread, you could have a trial. The cancer is more likely to spread if it grows large, or if it is a type of skin cancer that often spreads, such as melanoma.

Skin cancer staging tests may include:

  • Imaging tests. Imaging tests make pictures of the inside of the body. The images could show the size of the skin, cancer and whether it has spread. Imaging tests may include computed tomography scans, also called computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and ct scans, also called magnetic resonance imaging.
  • Sentinel lymph node biopsy. A sentinel lymph node biopsy is a procedure to remove some lymph nodes of the test. When the skin cancer spreads, it is directed to the lymph nodes in the first place. The sentinel nodes are those where the skin cancer is more likely to spread in the first place. If these nodes do not have any signs of cancer, it is likely that the cancer has not spread.

The stages of skin cancer

Your health care team uses the results of these tests to give your cancer a stage. Stages of cancer of the skin in the range of 0 to 4. Exactly what these numbers mean depends on the type of skin cancer and where it occurs in the body. In general, the lower numbers mean that the skin cancer is small and only affects the outer layer of the skin. As skin cancer is becoming more and more deep into the skin, or spreads, the stages get more. A stage 4 skin cancer often is a cancer that has spread to the lymph nodes or to other parts of the body.

Treatment

The treatment for skin cancer may involve surgery to remove the cancer or the treatments applied to the skin to kill the cancer cells. Sometimes stronger than the treatments of cancer are needed for cancer of the skin. These may include radiation therapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy.

Skin cancer, the treatments may include:

  • Creams to the skin. Some medicines for skin cancer come as creams for skin that applies to the area of cancer.
  • Curettage and electrodesiccation. This treatment consists of removing the top of the skin cancer with a scraping tool called a curet. Then, an electric needle is used to brown the base of the cancer.
  • Photodynamic therapy. Photodynamic therapy is a two-step treatment that combines the energy of light with a drug called a photosensitizer. The photosensitizer kills cancer cells when activated by light.
  • Surgery. Surgery skin cancer often involves removing the cancer and some healthy tissue around it.
  • The Mohs surgery. Mohs surgery involves removing skin cancer layer by layer. Each time a layer is removed, the surgeon uses a microscope to look for cancer cells. The surgery continues until no cancer cells are left. This type of surgery allows the surgeon to remove the cancer without removing too much of the healthy skin around it.
  • The radiation therapy. Radiation therapy treats cancer with powerful rays of energy.
  • Chemotherapy. Chemotherapy treats the cancer with strong medications.
  • The targeted therapy. Targeted therapy for cancer is a treatment that uses drugs that attack specific chemicals in cancer cells. By blocking these chemicals, specific treatments can cause cancer cells to die.
  • Immunotherapy. Immunotherapy for cancer is a treatment with a medication that helps the body's immune system destroys the cancer cells. The immune system fights diseases by attacking the germs and other cells that should not be in the body. Cancer cells survive by hiding from the immune system. Immunotherapy helps the cells of the immune system find and kill cancer cells.

Preparing for your appointment

Make an appointment with a doctor or other health care professional if you have any skin changes that worry you. If your healthcare provider thinks you might have cancer of skin, that person can refer you to a specialist. Often this is a doctor who diagnoses and treats diseases of the skin, it is called a dermatologist.

Appointments can be brief, so it's a good idea to be prepared. Here's some information to help you prepare.

What you can do

Ask a family member or friend to go with you to the appointment to help you remember the information that is obtained.

Make a list of:

  • Your medical history, including other conditions for which it has been treated.
  • All the drugs, vitamins, and natural remedies that you are taking, including dosage.
  • Questions to ask your health care team.

Some basic questions to ask about skin cancer are:

  • Do I have skin cancer?
  • What type of skin cancer I have?
  • I need other exams?
  • How quickly my type of skin cancer can grow and spread?
  • What are my treatment options?
  • What are the possible risks of each treatment?
  • Will the surgery leave a scar?
  • I have a higher risk of developing further skin cancers?
  • How can I reduce my risk of most cancers of the skin?
  • I need to have regular skin exams to check for skin cancer?
  • You should see a specialist? What will that cost, and will my insurance cover it?
  • Is there a generic alternative to the medicine you're prescribing for me?
  • Are there brochures or other printed material that I can take with me? What sites do you recommend?
  • What is going to determine whether I should plan for a follow-up visit?

Ask any other questions that you think of during your appointment.

What to expect from your doctor

Your healthcare provider will probably ask about your symptoms. Be prepared to answer questions such as:

  • When did you first notice their skin changes?
  • Have you noticed a lesion on the skin that has grown or changed?
  • Do you have a skin lesion that bleeds or itches?
  • How bad are the symptoms?
Symptoms and treatment of Skin cancer