Skin Cancer Causes, Treatments and Effects

Skin Cancer is one of the most common types of cancer with about one in five Americans being affected each year. The incidence of the cancer of the skin has been recorded to have risen over the years with the increase in the level of risk factor and carcinogens in the environment.

Though there are three common form of skin cancer; the Basal cell carcinoma, Squamous cell carcinoma and Melanoma, the first two are not very serious and can be treated and cured easily. The third type, Melanoma, the cancer of the melanocyte is the most severe of the lot and causes the most number of skin cancer associated death around the world.

What are the main causes of Skin Cancer?

.Exposure to sun

The number one cause of skin cancer is the over exposure to the Ultra Violet rays of the sun or any other sources. The time of exposure, the intensity of the UV rays and whether or not the skin was protected (with clothes or anti sun creams) all decides the chance of getting skin cancer in the long run.

.White skin

White skinned people are more prone to cancer of the skin than the darker skinned ones, and the difference comes due to the level of naturally occurring sun protecting pigment in the skin; melanin. Melanin pigment which is high in dark skin protects it from the harmful rays of the sun thus saving it from cancer. But dark skinned men too, do have a chance of the disease though comparatively less.

.Exposure to carcinogen

Certain chemicals like arsenic, tar, nicotine and oil are found to elevate the change of getting skin cancer. Though these come under skin carcinogen, only long term exposure is found to trigger the disease in many cases.

.Family history'

The genetic makeup and the family history can also contribute to the occurrence of skin cancer. Having someone in the family affected with skin cancer increases the chance of getting the disease.

Besides all these risk factors, there are still many factors that might cause skin cancer or elevate the chance of it.

How can skin cancer be treated?

There are a number of approaches to treat skin cancer depending on the severity of the disease and where it has affected. Early and proper diagnosis of the disease helps to treat it better and more effectively. The different approach towards effective treatment includes

.Surgery

Non melanomas cancer or tumour can be completely removed by different surgical approaches being followed today. Cryosurgery, simple excision, dermabrasion, laser surgery are among the surgical techniques that effectively removes the cancerous skin tissue.

.Chemotherapy

Inter venal or oral chemotherapeutic treatment targeted specifically on the cancerous cells can treat the cancer by either killing the cells or arresting their cell division capability. Cancer of the skin is also sometimes treated by applying the chemotherapeutic medicine on the affected skin in the form or creams or ointments.

.Radiation Therapy

The two forms, external or the internal radiation therapy may be used for the treatment depending on the type of cancer. Depending on the type of skin cancer and how much it had advanced, either form of the therapy is chosen.

.Photodynamic therapy

This is a more novel method to treat cancer and has little effect on the normal healthy tissue. Here photoactive drugs are given to the patient and these drugs specifically bind to the skin cells which are cancerous. When laser light is shone on the patients affected areas, the drug becomes active and kills off the diseased cells leaving of the normal cells.

What are the effects of Skin cancer treatment?

Different approaches towards the treatment of skin cancer have proven to be very effective in removing the tumour and controlling the cancerous growth. But as in every other cancer treatment, these treatment too comes with a few side effects.

Surgical removal of the cancerous tissue in the skin can result in a lifelong scar on the body. and sometimes even an expert surgeon cannot assure a cent percent zero scar removal of the cancer.

Chemotherapeutic treatment using creams and ointments can cause inflammation in the area of application. The inflammations caused in some people are so severe that they might have to discontinue the medication and switch to other treatment scheme. Chemotherapy can also cause nausea, vomiting and hair loss in the patients undergoing the treatment.

But after all the patent will be in gain undergoing the right cancer treatment on time, coz it will get rid of the most serious problem of all 'Cancer', set aside the smaller side effects coming with it.

Skin Cancer and Melanoma

Skin cancer occurs when skin cells are damaged, for example, by overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun. Between 95 and 99% of skin cancers in Australia are caused by exposure to the sun.

Types of skin cancer:

1) Melanoma – the most dangerous form of skin cancer

2) Non-melanoma skin cancer.

a) Basal cell carcinoma

b) Squamous cell carcinoma

Skin cancer comes in two forms, melanomas and non-melanomas. Melanomas usually account for only four percent of diagnosed skin cancers, but they are considered to be the most deadly.

There are four stages of melanoma that classify the severity of this skin cancer. Each stage pertains to the thickness and the amount that the melanoma has spread. When the stage of melanoma has been diagnosed, it is then possible for the doctors to determine the best type of treatment. In this article, we will discuss what the different stages of melanoma signify.

Stage 1 of melanoma is thin and the epidermis usually appears scraped. This stage of skin cancer is subdivided into two other categories. These additional categories describe the thickness of the tumor. Stage 1a is less than 1.0 mm and has no ulceration. Stage 1b is less than 1.0 mm but has ulceration. It is also considered to be in stage 1b if it is 1.01 – 2.0 mm even if it does not involve ulceration.

Ultra violet radiation emanating from the sun accounts for the majority of skin cancer. It is therefore one of the leading causes of skin cancer. UV rays, the other name for ultra violet radiation are said to come from the sun. The sun’s energy is made up of two components which are the visible and invisible rays.

Skin cancer prevention is preached by medical professionals all over the United States. This is no surprise given that the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation reported more than one million Americans were diagnosed with some form of skin cancer in 2005.

Preventing skin cancer is often associated with older generations, but today you see more teenagers and young adults spending excessive amounts of time in the sun. Without the proper protection, our society could see a surge in skin cancer diagnosis.

Cat Scans Responsible for 2% of all Cancers

Computed axial tomography Scans: They are responsible for two per cent of all cancers!

CT (computed tomography) scans are the cause of upwards to two per cent of all cancers. The consequences could be much worse among youngsters, who are more susceptible to radiation therapy.

The scans, which appear to particularly cause cancers of the lungs and colon, produce a radiation dose akin to that of the A-bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

The scan brings forth a radiation dose of approximately fifteen in an full-grown adult, and thirty mSv in a newborn infant child, and since normal treatments are for 2 to 3 scans, the total dose attains forty-five . Survivors of Nagasaki and Hiroshima were exposed to doses somewhat below fifty .

Approximately eleven per cent of all CT scans are done on minors, and researchers worry that, even if they don't get cancer right away, they're still at greater risk as grownups because their radiation load continues to increase.

The Different Types Of UV Radiation

The Different Types Of UV Radiation

There are different types of UV Radiation and they affect the skin in different ways. UV-A radiation has the longest wavelength. The earth receives UV-A rays all year, round and it is not filtered at all by the ozone layer. It is responsible for aging, and can penetrate the skin right down beneath the four layers of the epidermis to the dermis. It also is the type of rays that tanning lamps emit and can cause sunburns.

Continued

STA-478, A New Skin Cancer Drug Treatment

There is a new skin cancer treatment that is causing a huge buzz. Huge enough that two major Drug makers, GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. will be collaborating on the development of an exciting and very promising new skin cancer drug treatment. This drug treatment has been shown to aid in even Stage 1V melanoma, which kills 70 per cent of its victims within one year

Named STA-4783, this is a new, injectable drug candidate that kills cancer cells by overloading cancerous cells with oxygen. Since cancer cells have a much lower tolerance for oxygen than non cancerous cell do, this causes them to self-destruct. This is a new category of anti cancer therapy, with remarkable potential.

In layman’s terms, STA-4783 raises the level of oxygen inside of the cancer cells. Cancer cells can not tolerate as much oxygen as normal cells, and this drug elevates the oxygen inside the cancer cell, and this causes the cell to pass the critical breading point, It then undergoes apoptosis, or programmed cell death. STA has little or no effect upon normal non-cancerous cells.

The fact that this anti cancer strategy can differentiate between the healthy and unhealthy cells targeting only the cancer cells is why scientists are so excited and are hopeful that this treatment will be successful in treating a broad range of cancers

In a double blind study, it was found that STA-4783 when used in moderate doses with Taxol (or paclitaxel), will double the progression free survival in Stage 1V melanoma as compared with Taxol along.

Melanoma is a very deadly skin cancer once it has spread past its site of origin. In Stage 1V melanoma, the cancer has spread all through the body, and the survival rate of people with Stage 1V metastic melanoma is 7-10 months. Since there are very few drugs that are useful for people with advanced skin cancer, this is an important breakthrough.