By Lee C. Drinkard, M.D., FACP
DHR Health Oncology Institute
Skin cancer happens when normal cells in the skin change into abnormal cells. There are two main types of skin cancer: melanoma and non-melanoma. Both melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer can occur anywhere on the skin but are often on the head, face, neck, back of the hands, arms, and legs. This is because those body parts are more exposed to the sun’s rays.
Skin cancer is often caused by sun exposure and sunburn. It usually affects people with light skin that burns easily. The damaging effects of the sun build up over time. The more you are exposed to the sun (or to tanning beds) in your life, the higher your risk of skin cancer.
Melanoma often looks like a brown or black mole or birthmark with irregular borders or changes in size or shape and tends to grow rapidly and spread.
The two most common types of non-melanoma skin cancer are basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. These cancers usually grow slower and can be easily treated.
Non-melanoma skin cancer looks different from normal skin and can be pink, red and swollen, peeling, thick, or crusty or can look like an open sore.
If you think you may have skin cancer, go see your doctor or nurse as soon as possible. They will do an exam and check the skin all over your body. If they think you might have skin cancer, you will have a biopsy; your doctor will take a small sample of the abnormal area or remove the entire abnormal area.
If the biopsy shows skin cancer, based on the type of cancer and its extent, you and your doctor will discuss treatments. These treatments include surgery, radiation therapy, skin creams, photodynamic therapy (using creams together with light to kill cancer cells), immune therapy (medicines that work with the body’s infection-fighting system to stop cancer growth), or targeted therapy that focuses on certain proteins or molecules inside a cancer cell.
You can help prevent skin cancer by protecting your skin from the sun’s rays. To reduce the chance of getting skin cancer, stay out of the sun in the middle of the day (from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.), wear sunscreen and reapply it often, wear a wide-brimmed hat, long-sleeved shirt, or long pants, and avoid tanning beds
For more information or to speak to one of our experts, please call DHR Health Oncology Institute at 956-362-2250.
