Skin Cancer
Q.
What types of skin cancer are there?
A.
There are three main types of skin cancer: basal cell carcinomas,
squamous cell carcinomas and malignant melanoma. The first
two are slow-growing and easy to treat, but malignant melanoma
is a dangerous, fast-growing cancer that spreads very quickly.
Q.
How common is skin cancer?
A.
The official UK figures are 6,000 cases of melanoma a year
and 62,000 cases of other skin cancers. The incidence of
melanoma is increasing, probably because of increased exposure
to sunlight but also due to better diagnosis. The figure
of 62,000 other skin cancers is an underestimate because
these cancers are slow-growing and often remain undiagnosed
in elderly people. Roughly three out of every four non-melanoma
skin cancers are basal cell carcinomas and the other quarter
are squamous cell carcinomas.
Q.
What are the risk factors for skin cancer?
A.
For all types of skin cancer, over-exposure to ultraviolet
light, from sunlight or sunbeds, is the main risk. Research
into malignant melanoma suggests that over-exposure in childhood
puts people at risk of getting melanomas later in life.
There are several other things that increase the risk of
skin cancer: having very fair skin that burns easily, having
lots of moles (over 50) on your body, having had skin cancer
before, your close relatives having skin cancer and being
treated with anti-rejection drugs (ie after an organ transplant).
Exposure to radiation or long-term exposure to chemicals
such as coal tar, soot, pitch, asphalt, creosote, paraffin
wax or arsenic, can increase your risk of non-melanoma skin
cancer.
Q.
What are the symptoms of melanomas - what do they look like?
A.
The majority of melanomas occur on the head, neck, arms
and back - ie the skin exposed most to sunlight. Most of
them are very dark or black, but they can sometimes be lighter
brown or even speckled. The surface is usually raised and
sometimes rough. They are not normally circular in shape,
but some can be quite close to a circle. In their early
stages, they often look like a mole, but with a ragged outline
or different shades of colour in it. Sometimes, they appear
to be a mole that is bleeding, oozing or crusty. However,
the most important thing is that melanomas usually change
shape or colour as they grow. Any spot that changes colour
or shape should be reported to your doctor.
Q.
What do basal cell carcinomas look like?
A.
The vast majority of basal cell carcinomas occur on the
face. They start as a small, pink, pearly or waxy spot,
often circular or oval in shape. As they grow, they become
a raised, flat spot with a 'rolled' edge and they may develop
a crust. Next, they begin to bleed from the centre and an
ulcer develops. This is called a rodent ulcer and, if left
long enough, it can become quite large and eat away the
skin and tissue below.
Q.
What do squamous cell carcinomas look like?
A.
Squamous cell carcinomas are most common on the limbs, head
and neck. They are pink and irregular in shape, usually
with a hard, scaly or horny surface, although they can sometimes
become an ulcer. The edges are sometimes raised. They can
be tender to the touch.
Q.
How dangerous are skin cancers?
A.
Malignant melanoma can be one of the most dangerous types
of cancer. They all spread into nearby tissues, but some
grow faster and spread further than others. If diagnosed
late, treatment is not usually able to cure the cancer.
Squamous
cell carcinomas also spread, but most of them spread so
slowly that they are not very dangerous. Even the ones that
spread more rapidly can be effectively treated as long as
they are diagnosed reasonably early.
Basal
cell carcinomas almost never spread, apart from the slow
growth of the rodent ulcer itself. Even in advanced cases,
treatment is almost always successful.
Q.
Does skin cancer run in families?
A.
There are some rare, inherited skin diseases that make people
highly sensitive to sunlight and much more likely to get
any type of skin cancer. People inherit their normal skin
type and skin cancer is more common in paler, freckly skin.
In addition, there is good evidence that, if you have a
close relative (brother, sister parent or child) with skin
cancer, you have about twice the normal risk of getting
that type of skin cancer.
Q.What
causes skin cancer?
A.
Ultraviolet light - from sunlight or sunbeds - is the main
cause of skin cancer. It can damage the DNA that makes up
the genes in skin cells. The wrong type of damage to the
wrong genes will make a cell become cancerous. There are
three types of UV light, called A, B and C. UVC is filtered
out by the atmosphere and does not get to our skin. UVB
was originally found to cause sunburn and skin cancer, but
more recently, it has been discovered that UVA can also
cause skin cancer.
Q.
Can sun beds cause skin cancer?
A.
UVB is known to cause sunburn and skin cancer, so most sunbeds
were originally designed to produce UVA only. However, more
recent research has found that UVA can also cause skin cancers.
As a result, many modern sunbeds produce far less UVA, although
others still produce very high levels.
Q.
Does sun cream protect against skin cancer?
A.
UVB is known to cause sunburn and skin cancer, so sun creams
were originally designed to block out only the UVB. We now
know that UVA can also cause skin cancer and, these days,
some sun creams block out a lot of UVA as well as UVB. However,
the main concern is that, because sun creams prevent burning,
they make people think they can spend much longer in the
sun, which will definitely increase their risk of getting
skin cancer.
Q.
How is skin cancer treated?
A.
For almost all non-melanoma skin cancers and for early melanomas,
surgery to remove the cancer and a small amount of surrounding
tissue is all that is necessary. If a melanoma has spread,
chemotherapy can be used, but it is not usually effective.
After a melanoma has spread, surgery and radiotherapy can
be used on the secondary tumours. This will prolong life
but it is not a cure.
Q.
How effective are skin cancer treatments?
A.
Surgical treatment of non-melanoma skin cancer is usually
completely effective. For melanomas, if the tumour can be
removed surgically before it has spread, the treatment is
usually very effective. By removing more tissue around the
tumour (the margin), the surgeon is more likely to remove
the beginning of any spread and increase the chance of a
cure. Once a melanoma has spread around the body, treatment
is usually aimed at prolonging life as the chance of a cure
is very small.
Q.
Is early diagnosis important?
A.
Early diagnosis is absolutely crucial for malignant melanoma
(see above) as treatments for advanced melanoma are rarely
effective. However, for other types of skin cancer, early
diagnosis is sensible, but not a matter of life or death.
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The information on this page has been extracted from http://www.aicr.org.uk/skincancerfaqs.stm?source=Adwords
