With over 5 million cases diagnosed in the United States each year, skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States. Fortunately, skin cancer is also one of the most preventable forms of cancer. About 90 percent of nonmelanoma skin cancers and 85 percent of melanoma cases are associated with exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun. By raising awareness of the dangers of unprotected exposure and encouraging sun-safe habits, we can change behaviors and save lives.
With the incidence of this disease reaching epidemic levels, we can’t do this work alone. We need your help. May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month and the perfect time to get involved.
WHAT IS SKIN CANCER?
Skin cancer is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal skin cells. It occurs when unrepaired DNA damage to skin cells (most often caused by ultraviolet radiation from sunshine or tanning beds) triggers mutations, or genetic defects, that lead the skin cells to multiply rapidly and form malignant tumors.
An actinic keratosis (AK), also known as a solar keratosis, is a crusty, scaly growth caused by damage from exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation. You’ll often see the plural, “keratoses,” because there is seldom just one. AK is considered a precancer because if left alone, it could develop into a skin cancer, most often the second most common form of the disease, squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). More than 419,000 cases of skin cancer in the U.S. each year are linked to indoor tanning, including about 168,000 squamous cell carcinomas.
ATYPICAL MOLES
ATYPICAL MOLES are unusual-looking benign (noncancerous) moles, also known as dysplastic nevi (the plural of “nevus,” or mole). Atypical moles may resemble melanoma, and people who have them are at increased risk of developing melanoma in a mole or elsewhere on the body. The higher the number of these moles someone has, the higher the risk. Those who have 10 or more have 12 times the risk of developing melanoma compared with the general population.
Basal Cell Carcinoma
( The most common type of skin cancer)
BCCs are abnormal, uncontrolled growths or lesions that arise in the skin’s basal cells, which line the deepest layer of the epidermis (the outermost layer of the skin). BCCs often look like open sores, red patches, pink growths, shiny bumps, or scars and are usually caused by a combination of cumulative and intense, occasional sun exposure.
ATYPICAL MOLES
ATYPICAL MOLES are unusual-looking benign (noncancerous) moles, also known as dysplastic nevi (the plural of “nevus,” or mole). Atypical moles may resemble melanoma, and people who have them are at increased risk of developing melanoma in a mole or elsewhere on the body. The higher the number of these moles someone has, the higher the risk. Those who have 10 or more have 12 times the risk of developing melanoma compared with the general population.
Basal Cell Carcinoma
( The most common type of skin cancer)
BCCs are abnormal, uncontrolled growths or lesions that arise in the skin’s basal cells, which line the deepest layer of the epidermis (the outermost layer of the skin). BCCs often look like open sores, red patches, pink growths, shiny bumps, or scars and are usually caused by a combination of cumulative and intense, occasional sun exposure.
BCC almost never spreads (metastasizes) beyond the original tumor site. Only in exceedingly rare cases can it spread to other parts of the body and become life-threatening. It shouldn’t be taken lightly, though: it can be disfiguring if not treated promptly.
More than 4 million cases of basal cell carcinoma are diagnosed in the U.S. each year. In fact, BCC is the most frequently occurring form of all cancers. More than one out of every three new cancers is a skin cancer, and the vast majority are BCCs.
The most dangerous form of skin cancer, these cancerous growths develop when unrepaired DNA damage to skin cells (most often caused by ultraviolet radiation from sunshine or tanning beds) triggers mutations (genetic defects) that lead the skin cells to multiply rapidly and form malignant tumors. These tumors originate in the pigment-producing melanocytes in the basal layer of the epidermis. Melanomas often resemble moles; some develop from moles. The majority of melanomas are black or brown, but they can also be skin-colored, pink, red, purple, blue or white. Melanoma is caused mainly by intense, occasional UV exposure (frequently leading to sunburn), especially in those who are genetically predisposed to the disease. Melanoma kills an estimated 10,130 people in the US annually.
If melanoma is recognized and treated early, it is almost always curable, but if it is not, the cancer can advance and spread to other parts of the body, where it becomes hard to treat and can be fatal. While it is not the most common of the skin cancers, it causes the most deaths. In 2016, an estimated 76,380 of these will be invasive melanomas, with about 46,870 in males and 29,510 in women.
Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare, aggressive skin cancer that is at high risk of recurring and spreading (metastasizing) throughout the body, with most recurrences taking place within two years after diagnosis of the primary tumor. While the disease is 40 times rarer than melanoma (an estimated 0.24 cases per 100,000 persons in the U.S, or about 2,500 cases total), it kills about one in three patients compared with one in nine for melanoma. Approximately 700 people die from MCC each year in the U.S.
MCC most often arises on sun-exposed areas in fair-skinned individuals over age 50. Its name comes from the similarity of these cancer cells to normal Merkel cells in the skin that are thought to be associated with touch sensation. Normal Merkel cells were first described more than 100 years ago by Friedrich Sigmund Merkel.
Squanmous Cell Carcinoma
Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is an uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells arising in the squamous cells, which compose most of the skin’s upper layers (the epidermis). SCCs often look like scaly red patches, open sores, elevated growths with a central depression, or warts; they may crust or bleed. They can become disfiguring and sometimes deadly if allowed to grow. More than 1 million cases of squamous cell carcinoma are diagnosed each year in the U.S., and (depending on different estimates) as many as 8,800 people die from the disease. Incidence of the disease has increased up to 200 percent in the past three decades in the U.S.
SCC is mainly caused by cumulative ultraviolet (UV) exposure over the course of a lifetime; daily year-round exposure to the sun’s UV light, intense exposure in the summer months, and the UV produced by tanning beds all add to the damage that can lead to SCC.
All the information about skin cancer has been from this→ SKIN CARE INFO! site.
again I AM NOT A DOCTOR I AM JUST TRYING TO GIVE INFORMATION!
If you feel like you may need to see a doctor please do so. And please use sunscreen!!
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