The three types of skin cancer
November 2nd, 2008 Posted by: Dane Masters
One fine day when I was at a local store I was impressed by the hair coloring of the clerk seated there. I told her how beautiful the coloring looked on her with that perfect dark base and the streaks that looked so natural. It seemed as if the sun itself had beautifully dyed her hair. We got talking about how when we were young we did not have to take the help of any hair dye. We had to spray SunIn on the hair and exposed it to sunlight for an hour or so and we had the desired hair color. This led to discussing how that was almost impossible now what with the ozone layer weakening and the ultraviolet rays having the potential to cause irreparable damage to our hair. (SunIn by the way is not one of the aerosols but is a pump spray).
You have however not come to this page to know more about sun free hair coloring methods, what you want to know more about is the many types of skin cancers. There is evidence that chemicals as well as the damaging rays of the sun are possible causes of skin cancer, but since we are not doctors or experts, what you would find here is some basic knowledge about skin cancer.
There are three different types of skin cancer including Squamous Cell Carcinoma; Basal Cell Carcinoma also called non-melanoma skin cancer; and Melanoma.
Melanoma- It is also referred to as Cutaneous Melanoma and Malignant Melanoma. The cancer cells that lead to the disease are formed in the melanocytes. These melanocytes cause skin pigmentation. According to the reports published by the University of Maryland Medicine, melanoma is the rarest from of skin cancer and also the most malignant. It is mostly found in people who have a light complexion, light eyes and light hair. This however does not chalk out the possibility of the disease attacking people with other complexions as well. Individuals with black or brown complexion are just as susceptible to it. The symptoms that are the result of the disease are a mole that changes shape, color, size, or state (if it starts bleeding or oozing), or as per the study of UMM, it may be that the mole feels swollen, hard, and itchy,.
Squamous Cell Carcinoma- This is also known as non-melanoma skin cancer. In the early stages it manifested in red colored patches or nodules in the skin. It is the second most common type of cancer and affects mostly the fair skinned. It is evident mostly in the rims of the ears, lips, face, and mouth.
Basal Cell Carcinoma - The second of the types of skin cancer, Basal Cell Cancer, typically starts as a “small, fleshy bump or nodule,” most commonly found on the head, neck, and/or hands. Of the three types of skin cancer, Basal Cell Carcinoma, which is typically found in Caucasians, say those at UMM, make up “more than 90 percent in the U.S..
My mother had Basal Cell Carcinoma on her lip, and while we thought it to be Herpes, she knew it was “sun blister” and immediately went to the doctor to know about it. This is good news if you are one of those that talks about the loss of the days of being in the sun, of sunbathing, swimming and frolicking outdoors in the warm sunshine.
