Skin Cancer

By Grant Williams

The disease
Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the united states and according to modern estimates 40-50 percent of people who live up to age 65 will have skin cancer at lease once.
There are three types of skin cancer:
basal cell carcinoma (BCC) Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC) malignant melanoma

The symptoms
There are a variety of different skin cancer symptoms. Any change on your skin, especially in the size or color of a mole, growth, or spot, or a new growth (even if it has no color). Scaliness, oozing, bleeding, or a change in the way a bump or nodule looks. The spread of pigmentation (color) beyond its border, such as dark coloring that spreads past the edge of a mole or mark. A change in sensation, such as itchiness, tenderness, or pain.

Modern research
Some people get melanoma from family members and it may come from the changes in the CDKN2A (p16) gene.
They also discover new drugs that block melanoma.

Causes
The most well known cause of skin cancer is ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun There are two types - UVA and UVB. Sunlamps and tanning booths which are artificial forms of UV radiation, can also cause skin cancer.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9osjpomee8

Treatments
Skin cancer is known to be 100% curable if it is discovered early.
The main objective of treating skin cancer is to remove or destroy the cancer completely with as small a scar as possible. The spot can be removed with a scraping tool (curette) and then cauterized, frozen with liquid nitrogen, or killed with a low-dose of radiation.

Sources
Images on slide 2: Wikipedia.
Information on slide 2: www.drugs.com/cancerskin.html The symptoms: www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/sunanduvexposur e/skin-cancer-facts Treatments: www.drugs.com/cancer-skin.html Research: www.cancer.org/cancer/skincancermelanoma/detailedguide/melanoma-skin-cancer-newresearch