Cancer have been existing for ages. An oldest written source about a cancer seeks 1600 y. before our era. The only recommended method for cancer‘s treatment was it's surgery. After a lot of years of skin cancer research causes and symptoms were identified. After an X-ray was discovered, more alternative skin cancer treatment methods occured. Radiotherapy was born. In the second half of the 20th century first chemotherapeutics appeared. A great part of patients could be saved after the chemotherapy was developed. More and more information about skin cancer was ascertained. Nowadays there is a great selection of cancer treatment methods – cryodestruction, medical treatment, laser destruction, photodynamic therapy, surgery, radiation therapy.
How is skin cancer diagnosed? Skin cancer signs ( ABCDE of skin cancer):
A (asymmetric) – asymmetric moles;
B (borders) – moles having irregular borders;
C (colors) – moles of various colors;
D (diameter) – moles greater than 6mm in size;
E (evolution) – moles that tend to enlarge quickly;
There are several ways to find out if a patient has a skin cancer:
• dermatoscopy,
• skin cancer biopsy,
• siascopy,
• morphological studies on skin cancer.
Dermatoscopy – a noninvasive method of skin cancer detection allowing to ascertain skin tumor structure and changes in lesions;
Siascopy – it is a new, painless, noninvasive examination technology which shows if a patient has a melanoma. During the siascopy test a mole is scanned and it's condition is evaluated with a help of a computer. This method of detection also helps for a doctor to decide on the most effective treatment. Procedure is short, it only takes up to 20 sec.;
Morphological studies – morphological studies or a biopsy are applied if there are any cancer suspicions after a medical examination;
Skin cancer biopsy – a sample of a tumor tissue or the whole tumor is examined by a microscope. Such an examination allows to find out if the growth of cancerous cells is quick.
How common is skin cancer?
Skin cancer is the most common cancer type nowadays. It is twice more frequent among women than men.
Skin cancer survival rate
About 80000 people pass away because of a skin cancer in a year. Such are the statistics of skin cancer. The skin cancer survival rate would be lower if patients were diagnosed with skin cancer earlier. The best treatment of skin cancer is it's early diagnostics.
Skin cancer facts that you should know, if....
1. ...there have been skin cancer cases in your family. You have a 50% chance to get a melanoma if any your ascendants were diagnosed with it. Specialists recommend to have tests for skin cancer once a year but patients with higher risk to fall down with the disease are advised to check moles at least twice a year.
2. ...sunbathed in a solarium at least once in your life. According to calculations done in USA, more than 419 000 cases of skin cancer are related to solariums. If you have ever sunbathed in solarium, you should tell this to your dermatologist so that the facts would be included into your medical records.
3. ...you have a lot of moles. The more moles you have, the greater chances are for you to get a skin cancer. Half of skin cancer cases develop out of moles. People having more than 10 atypic moles have a 12 times bigger chances to fall down with melanoma than other individuals.
4. ...you have a light skin. Light-skinned people do not have a lot of protective pigment melanin inside their skin, have a lot of moles and tend to sunburn fast.
5. ...you sunburnt severely many times in the past. If you sunburnt to blistering at least once in the past, the risk of melanoma increases. However, it is never too late to start using sun protection. Even if sun had a strong impact on your skin in childhood, you may do a lot about your skin welfare after changing your habits.
These are the main facts about skin cancer to be paid attention to. Even though people are aware of skin cancer causes, symptoms, the statistics on skin cancer does not satisfy.
Statistics of skin cancer:
• specialists remind that there are some factors of skin cancer origin: nutrition peculiarities (20-50%), heredity (10-20%), impact of the sun (50-70%);
• more than 50% of skin cancer cases can be avoided if skin examination was run at least once a year;
• although the age of patients becomes younger, cancer still remains a disease of elder people.
