Skin Cancer Research Paper

Cancer. This is such a small word, but a very large and devastating disease. Everyone knows someone whose life has been affected by cancer one way or another. According to the American Cancer Society, every year more than one million people are diagnosed with cancer. Skin Cancer is one of the most common types of cancers. Breast, prostate, lung, and colon cancer combined are still less than all the cases of skin cancer that are diagnosed in a year. Nearly half of all Americans who live to age sixty-five are expected to acquire skin cancer at least one time in their life, according to Medicinenet.com. The three types of skin cancer are Basal Cell Carcinoma, Squamous Cell Carcinoma, and Malignant Melanoma. Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC)
There is estimated to be around seven hundred thousand cases of squamous cell carcinoma each year. Males are three times more likely to develop this form of skin cancer than females, as stated by Skin Cancer A to Z. Squamous cell carcinoma is the cancer that is common in African Americans and Asians. Of all Americans who live to sixty-five, forty to fifty percent of these people will have this type of skin cancer.
The least common but yet the most deadly of skin cancers is malignant melanoma. This cancer forms in the cells that make the melanin. Melanin is the pigment that makes the skin tan. They are most likely to appear in the beginning locations including your chest and back in males and on the legs in females. You can get melanoma anywhere on the skin. It is most likely curable if caught in it is caught early. Unlike basal and squamous cell carcinoma it is likely to spread faster if you do not find it
This means that the doctor will take a part or the whole area that is though to be cancerous. Then a biopsy report is sent back with the results. If it comes back positive then there are many options including; freezing, excision, curettage and electrodessication, Mohs surgery, radiation, photodynamic therapy, medicated creams, and/or pills. The treatment that is chosen depends on the type, size, location, and how deep the cancer actually is. Freezing is used for precancerous types. The doctor simply freezes them by using liquid nitrogen causing the tissues that were frozen to fall off when defrosted. Excision surgery is used on any type of skin cancer. The doctor cuts out the area with the cancerous tissues and the neighboring area of healthy skin to ensure that all the cancer is taken out. Curettage and electrodessication is when the surgeon takes out the layers of cells with a curet. After the layers of cells are out an electric needle then terminates the rest of the cancer cells. It is a very fast and easy treatment that is used against basal and squamous cells. Mohs surgery is intended for large, recurring cancers that are hard to treat. The growth is removed layer by layer, checking each layer until abnormal cells are not seen. This keeps from having to take the surrounding healthy skin. Radiation is also used when surgery isn’t an option. Photodynamic therapy uses