Skin Cancer Treatment , Signs, symptoms, and understanding

UNDERSTANDING OF SKIN CANCER

Skin cancer was abnormalities in the cells of the skin that is caused by mutations in the DNA of cells, which make rapid cell growth, an age of the cells and the cells lose its base. Skin cancer generally occurs on the skin that is often exposed to the Sun, but this condition can also occur on the skin is not exposed to sunlight directly.

Based on the type of cell that attacked, skin cancer is divided into three kinds, namely:

• Melanoma. This is a skin cancer that occurs in the melanocytes or pigment-producing cells of the skin. Skin cancer melanoma skin cancer is rare but dangerous.
• non-melanoma skin cancer. This is a skin cancer that occurs on a network other than skin melanocytes. Non-melanoma skin cancer is differentiated into two types as follows:
• Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC, Basal Cell Carcinoma), skin cancers that occur at the bottom of the epidermis. Basal cell cancer is a type of non-melanoma cancer is most common in humans.
• Squamous Cell Carcinoma (Squamous Cell Carcinoma, SCC), skin cancers that occur at the top of the epidermis. Squamous cell cancer is fairly common, but the frequency was not as much as the basal cell cancer.

Skin Cancer Symptoms

Skin cancer generally occurs in regions that are often exposed to the Sun such as the scalp, face, lips, ears, neck, chest, arms, and legs. However, in some cases, skin cancer can also occur in areas that are rarely exposed to sunlight such as on the palms of the hands and feet, the bottom of the fingers, even in the genital area. Skin cancer can happen to anyone, including people who have dark skin color. Symptoms of skin cancer are different for each type. The description is as follows:

• Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC). BCC generally occur in regions that are often exposed to the Sun such as the face or neck. Basal cell cancer symptoms which are:
• soft and shiny Bumps on the skin.
• flat-shaped Lesions on the skin is dark brown or reddish brown like meat.
• Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC). SCC also generally occurs in areas of the skin that is exposed to sunlight. But in a dark-skinned people, squamous cell cancer often occurs on the skin on the body parts that are rarely exposed to the Sun. Symptoms of SCC, in General, is as follows.
• hard red bumps on the skin.
• Lesions on the skin that is flat and hard as a scaly crust.
• Melanoma. Melanoma can grow in any part of the skin, both in normal skin or in an existing mole that changes become malignant. In men, cancer melanoma usually appears on the face and body. Whereas in women, melanoma often appears in the lower limbs. Good on men and women, melanoma can appear in the skin exposed to the Sun. Melanoma can be experienced by anyone regardless of the color of his skin. On a dark-skinned people, melanoma generally occurs on the palms of the hand or the foot and lower part of the finger or toe. Symptoms of melanoma generally occur is as follows:
• Brown Lumps with black spots on the bumps.
• moles that change size and color or bleed.
• the emergence of small lesions on the skin with irregular edges or lesions is red, white, blue, and blue markings.
• the emergence of dark-colored lesions on the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, hands or fingertips away.
• the emergence of dark-colored lesions on the mucous membranes of the mouth, nose, vagina, or anus.

The following is a list of the ABCDE features about melanoma to differentiate it from regular moles.

• Asymmetrical. The form of melanoma generally asymmetrical if compared with ordinary moles.
• Border (the suburbs). The outskirts of melanoma generally squiggly, not round like a normal Mole.
• Color (color). The color of the melanoma is a combination of two or more colors.
• the Diameter of melanoma generally over 6 mm.
• Enlargement (augmentation). Melanoma will be enlarged from time to time.

Other Skin Cancers

The following are the types of skin cancer and other more rare, include:

• Kaposi's Sarcoma. Kaposi's Sarcoma occurs due to viral infections that cause mutations in endothelial cells, shaped like a red or purple spot on the network under the skin. Kaposi's Sarcoma can occur in people with impaired immune systems such as people with AIDS or organ transplant recipients, infected by human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8).

• Merkel cell carcinoma. Merkel cells are cells that are located close to the nerve endings in the skin and related to the function of the skin as the senses are sensing. Merkel cells in malignancy are extremely rare and led to the formation of hard bumps under the skin or in the hair follicles.
• Carcinoma oil glands (sebaceous glands). Cancer of the sebaceous glands is rare cancer, but are aggressive. Cancer generally appears in the sebaceous glands oil glands in the skin, then formed a hard lump does not feel sick. Sebaceous cancer can occur anywhere, but usually occurs in the eyelids and often misdiagnosed as other eye disorders.

Not all disorders or bumps in the skin caused by cancer, but skin cancer also often appear in the form of mild abnormalities of the skin, therefore the doctor's diagnosis is very important in determining the causes and types of abnormalities in it.

Causes Of Skin Cancer

Generally, skin cancer caused by exposure to ultraviolet light causing DNA damage in skin tissue. The main source of ultraviolet light is sunlight consisting of three types, namely:

• Ultraviolet A (UVA)
• the Ultraviolet B (UVB)
• Ultraviolet C (UVC)

Of the three types of ultraviolet rays, which are most harmful to the skin is a UVC ray. UVC rays, however, can be absorbed by the atmosphere before it reaches the ground. UVA and UVB can damage skin cells, especially the pale-colored, and potentially cause skin cancer.

Artificial UV light sources such as lamps and UV tanning bed can also cause skin cancer.

• Some factors that can increase a person's risk of developing cancer of the skin are:
• Has a white skin. Every person, regardless of the color of his skin, can suffer from skin cancer. But Whites have protection against UV rays are weaker compared with darker skin. Darker skin has melanin more so that has protection against UV rays are stronger. In addition to easy spots formed on the skin indicate that more vulnerable skin exposed to skin cancer.
• Frequent exposure to sunlight. People are often exposed to the Sun's rays are more at risk of experiencing skin cancer compared with those who rarely exposed to sunlight. Some conditions that can increase the exposure to sunlight, among others
• live in an area that has a bright.
• live in higher areas.
• moles. People who have a lot of moles or moles that have abnormal (larger than normal) are exposed to higher risk of skin cancer compared to people who have a little Mole.
• ages. People with advanced age are more easily affected by skin cancer compared with children or teenagers.
• Skin ever sunburn (sunburn).  Skin blisters due to the sunlight make the skin more at risk of developing cancer of the skin, especially if the skin is swollen occur at the time of children or teenagers.
• Actinic keratosis. In people with skin tone brighter, exposure to sunlight is easy to cause the formation of spots in the form of a scaly skin thickening on the face, hands, and head. This condition is pre-cancer, and very potentially turning into skin cancer.
• a history of skin cancer. If a person never had skin cancer and was cured, it is possible that the same condition would reappear.
• a history of skin cancer in a family member. A person exposed to a high risk of skin cancer if you have a sibling or parent had ever suffered from skin cancer.
• a weakening of the immune system. People with a weak immune system have a high risk of developing cancer of the skin. Including HIV/AIDS, people who are taking the immunosuppressant medication, and organ transplant recipients.
• radiation therapy. Eczema or acne sufferers are given radiation therapy had a higher risk of developing cancer of the skin, especially basal cell cancer.
• Exposure to certain chemicals. Some chemicals are carcinogenic, such as arsenic, can increase the risk of developing skin cancer.

Diagnosis Of Skin Cancer

To perform a diagnosis of skin cancer accurately, the doctor will apply the following measures against patients:

• physical examination of the skin. The doctor will examine the form of skin disorder mainly changes happening on his physical appearance. With this examination, the doctor will determine if changes caused by cancer or other diseases.
• Perform a skin biopsy. Examination of tissue samples taken through skin biopsy in the laboratory.
• After the diagnosis is made, the doctor will determine the severity of skin cancer suffered by virtue of his stadium as follows:
• Stadium 0, indicating that the cancer network was still in the place where it first appeared and has not spread (in situ).
• Stadium 1, indicating that the cancerous tissue is still small and has not spread.
• Stadium 2, indicating that the cancer network has already grown, but have not spread.
• Stadium 3, indicating that cancer has already grown up and already spread to surrounding tissues or to nearby lymph nodes.
• Stage 4, cancer has already spread to other parts of the body or have already undergone metastasis.

Determination of skin cancer stage is carried out in order to determine the appropriate treatment. On the basal cell carcinoma, cancer cells usually do not spread so that the skin biopsy can determine the type and stage of cancer. 

But on the type of skin cancer, including squamous cell carcinoma, Merkel cell carcinoma, or melanoma, doctors will conduct a follow-up inspection in order to get more accurate results. One of the advanced examinations is usually done is a biopsy of the lymph nodes in the area of cancer.

Skin Cancer Treatment

The handling is done depends on the type and stage of cancer of the skin. The main skin cancer treatment is surgery to remove the cancer cells, mainly on the type of melanoma.

On the type of melanoma skin cancer, treatment is tailored to the stage of cancer. An overview of treatment for each stage of cancer is as follows:

• Melanoma stages 1 and 2 can be treated with surgery to remove the cancerous tissue and healthy skin around the network. This surgery is the surgical excision. If surgical excision process is expected to leave vast scars, this procedure can be combined with skin grafting (skin grafting). Surgical excision has pretty good success in cancer patients melanoma stages 1 and 2, i.e. approximately 80-90 percent. After surgery, the patient will be monitored intensively condition by health workers.
• stage 3 Melanoma can be treated with surgical excision on the cancerous tissue. To keep cancer did not spread to other organs of the body, can do a biopsy the lymph nodes. If the results of a biopsy of the lymph nodes showed cancer had already spread to the Glans, then can do a surgical removal of lymph nodes to prevent further spread of cancer.
• stage 4 Melanoma occurs when cancerous tissue has already spread to other organs (metastasis). The goal of cancer treatment is no longer a 4 stage to kill cancer cells, but to extend the patient's life expectancy, slowing the growth of cancer, as well as reduce the symptoms that arise. Treatment with, among others through radiotherapy or immunotherapy.
• On a non-melanoma skin cancer, the handling can be done through the following methods:
• Surgical excision combined with skin grafts. The goal is to remove the cancer cells and prevent from being spread.
• micrographic Mohs Surgery (Mohs micrographic surgery/MMS). This method is used if the cancer cells are feared already spread or occur on the skin which is very important, as in the eyes or nose. In surgical MMS, an edge of the cancerous tissue is examined microscopically to make sure all the cancer cells have already wasted entirely. If the cancerous tissue is still there, the dissection is carried out again.
• Curettage. This treatment method is applied to non-melanoma cancers that are very small. Here the doctor will do a culprit cancer network to the remaining healthy tissue, then do the burning (cauterizes). Procedure curettage method can be done several times to make sure there are no remaining cancer cells.

• Cryotherapy. Method of treatment of this cancer is done with the use of cold temperatures to turn off the cancer cells at the early stage. In cryotherapy, patients will be given a liquid nitrogen to freeze cancerous tissue that causes the formation of boils in the area. After a few weeks, boils containing cancer network will then be apart by itself.
• anticancer Creams. Anticancer creams are used for the treatment of cancerous tissue that is only found in the top layer of skin, such as basal cell cancer or disease Bowen. There are two types of anti-cancer cream are:
• chemotherapy Cream
• immune system stimulant Cream
• rotodynamic Therapy. This therapy is used to treat basal cell cancer, disease, Bowen and keratose asitinik. This therapy uses specific creams to make skin cancer is becoming more sensitive to light. After the cream is used, the skin is irradiated with light-intensity to kill cancer cells.
• radiotherapy. Namely treatment through radiation. This therapy is performed if surgery cannot be done or cancer had already spread widely.
• Electrochemotherapy. This is a great method of chemotherapy is more complex but more effective. Elektrokemoterapi applied if the methods of surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy did not work effectively in removing cancer. Electrochemotherapy is done by way of giving chemotherapy to patients are intravenous, followed by administering an electric shock the flow using the electrodes into the cancerous tissue. The flow of electricity will make it easier to chemotherapy drugs to enter into the cancer cells so that the cancer cells become more easily marred. This method is usually implemented by using the total anesthesia to the patient, although in some cases, the patient is given a local anesthetic. The electrochemotherapy procedure usually lasts for a few hours and the results can be seen within six weeks.

Prevention Of Skin Cancer

The following are some of the ways that can be done to prevent the occurrence of skin cancer:

• Avoid sunlight at noon. This step can be done by setting up a schedule of activities outdoors during the day. The accumulation of UV light on the skin in a long period of time can damage the skin and cause cancer. By avoiding sunlight on the time of day, the accumulation of UV rays can be reduced.
• Use a sunscreen regularly. Sunscreen or sunblock isn't able to absorb all types of harmful UV radiation but can reduce the bad effects and damage to the skin caused by sunlight.
• Use clothing that can protect from sunlight. Because sunscreen can't absorb UV radiation, using clothing that covers the body, including the arms and legs, can provide additional protection against the adverse effects of sunlight. In addition, a hat and sunglasses can provide more protection for the head and eyes from the Sun's radiation, especially UVA and UVB rays.
• avoid using a tanning bed. Tanning bed used to darken the color of the skin radiates UV radiation that can be harmful to the skin.
• be careful in the use of drugs with side effects against the skin. Several types of drugs such as antibiotics increase skin sensitivity to light. If taking a drug with side effects, should reduce outdoor activities especially in the middle of the day.
• checked routinely and skin be a consultation skin changes that felt unnatural to the doctor.