According to JAMA, “From the 1960s to the 1980s, the incidence of squamous cell skin cancer increased 2.6 times in men and3.1 times in women, while incidence of melanoma rose 3.5-fold and 4.6-fold in men and women, respectively.”

Skin cancer is something that can touch just about anyone. While it is highly curable, it can also be deadly. The main key, other than prevention, is early detection.

Coreen was in her mid fifties when she noticed a tiny small hard red nodule on her nose. After putting it off for several weeks, she finally went to the doctor to have it checked out. Her doctor decided the best course of action was a biopsy. A week later when the biopsy came back, Coreen had a melanoma.

Brian was a swimmer on the high school swim team. At the age of 22, while in the shower, he realized something on his back was bleeding. He asked his wife to look at it. She said there was a small black spot on his back. He ignored it and within two weeks it had grown to the size of a quarter. He was diagnosed with Melanoma.

Dianna had a small mole on her back about the size of “a pencil eraser”. At the age of 29, she was too young to consider anything so small as "serious or life threatening". It didn’t bleed or cause any pain. She too was diagnosed with Melanoma.

Basal cell carcinoma

What is basal cell carcinoma?

“Basal cell carcinoma is the most common form of skin cancer and accounts for more than 90% of all skin cancer in the U.S. These cancers almost never spread (metastasize) to other parts of the body. They can, however, cause damage by growing and invading surrounding tissue.”

What does it look like?

• It can be a pearly looking bump
• It can look like a patch of dry skin
• It can look like a rough red patch

How does a doctor treat it?

• Cut it out
• Freeze it with liquid nitrogen
• Treat with radiation
• Perform Mohs surgery. This is done by taking layers of skin off until there isn’t anymore cancer cells remaining.

Squamous cell carcinoma

What is squamous cell carcinoma?

“Squamous cell carcinoma is cancer that begins in the squamous cells, which are thin, flat cells that look like fish scales under the microscope. The word squamous came from the Latin squama, meaning "the scale of a fish or serpent" because of the appearance of the cells.”

Squamous cell carcinoma is different than basal cell. It can be found in several forms on the skin or could affect the lining “hollow organs of the body, and the passages of the respiratory and digestive tracts”.

What does it look like?

• Hard, skin-colored or red nodules
• Rough, red bumps on the scalp, face, ears, and backs of the hands (Actinic keratoses).
• A mound with a central crater (keratoacanthoma). This kind grows very fast.
• The lower lip has redness and scale like skin (actinic cheilitis).
• Scaly patches on sun-exposed parts of the body (Bowden’s disease)

How do they treat it?

• Cut it out
• Freeze it with liquid nitrogen
• Treat with radiation
• Perform Mohs surgery
• Medical anti-cancer medications, like Efudex, applied directly to the area over a period of weeks (very irritating to the skin much like a burn).

Melanoma

What is Melanoma?

Melanoma occurs when the cells that make up your pigment become malignant. It can spread to your lymph system and then to your internal organs or brain.

What does it look like?

• A mole that changes in any way
• A dark spot or patch with irregular edges
• It can also be a spot that is blue, tan, pink, white, gray or red
• Itching, oozing or bleeding spot
• Something growing under a nail
• New pigmented line in a nail

How do they treat it?

• Surgery
• Chemotherapy
• Radiation
• Immunotherapy

Up to a million people will be diagnosed with skin cancer this year…more than 7000 will die from melanoma. Coreen and Brian survived...Dianna, at the age of 33 died after a valiant four year fight.

Check your skin regularly and have someone check your back and scalp. It only takes a few minutes. If you see something unusual, no matter how small, have it checked out by the doctor. I am glad Coreen and Brian did...Coreen is my mom and Brian is my husband.

Taking care of your skin health is an important part of your regular health regime.

References

http://www.medicinenet.com/skin_cancer/article.htm#tocb

http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/262/15/2097

www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/roundups/issues/2000-05-05.pdf