We all know that we need to keep an eye on skin and be cautious with moles, freckles or spots. But what exactly are we looking for?
While nothing will replace the expertise of your doctor and you should always get any new growth checked out, there are some signs that may indicate it is melanoma skin cancer. Doctors often use an ABCDE scale:
1) Asymmetrical: a spot is more likely to be melanoma if it is asymmetrical. Most benign moles and freckles tend to have a uniform shape.
2) Blurred outline: the outline of the spot tends to merge gradually with the rest of your skin
3) Color variations: the outer edges tend to be varying shades or black, brown or blue
4) Diameter : more than 6 millimeters is usual
5) Elevation or enlargement: it is slightly raised or has become larger in size.
Although it is a useful list of symptoms it doesn’t cover every type of lesion. Your local skin cancer center should have leaflets available which explain in more detail the other symptoms that you could look for. It is wise to go see your medical advisor if there is any change in color, shape or size or if your skin feels different or starts becoming inflamed, bleeding or crusting over. Alternatively if you have a spot that just won’t heal, this could also be skin cancer and should be brought to the attention of medical staff. Prevention is much better than trying to cure this disease and your local cancer center will be happy to put your fears to rest.
So what does skin cancer screening involve? If your doctor suspects melanoma he will arrange for an excision biopsy to be carried out. The whole lesion is removed along with some normal skin around it and examined in a lab. Before this happens, he could arrange for you to have skin surface imaging which will reveal the details of changes in the appearance of the skin. Some of the more advanced skin cancer centers have computerized systems that can examine photographs of lesions and compare them to pictures or cancerous and non cancerous growths in order to make a diagnosis. This is a very advanced system and is rarely wrong.
When the lesion is removed, the surgeon will also remove some healthy tissue around the lesion. This is to ensure that no malignant cells are left behind which could spread the disease further in your body. But it is a delicate procedure as they cannot remove too much tissue in case the lesion is malignant as this will make treatment more difficult. If it is found to be skin cancer, the pathologist will report on the type, thickness and whether there is ulceration or not. The treatment you will have to undergo will depend to a large extent on the pathology findings. The cancer is staged from 1 to 4 with 4 being the most dangerous and difficult to cure.
The highest rate of skin cancer occurs in Australia. The rate of occurrence is so high, one in every two people develop it in some form or another. The main cause is unprotected exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun and tanning machines. Although ultraviolet radiation cannot be felt or seen it can cause sunburn, early aging to the skin and damage to the skin that can lead to skin cancer.
Skin cancer is associated with a lifetime exposure of UV radiation and most parts of Australia have all year round high levels of ultraviolet radiation.
Even though skin cancer normally appears in older adults, the damage to the skin begins from an early age due to the UV exposure of the sun, such as sunburn.
Recent research has suggested that the white cells become damaged, often in childhood and the subsequent sun exposure in adulthood can trigger the cells to develop cancer.
Although anyone can develop skin cancer, the risks are increased if a person
* Does not protect their skin from the sun
* Has infrequent and intense exposures to the sun
* Spends a lot of time in the sun, such as working
* Was born or spent their childhood years in Australia
* Has had sunburn in childhood
* Has fair skin that freckles and burns easily without an easy tan
* Has fair or red hair with green or blue eyes
* Has solar keratoses (sun spots)
* Has a lot of moles
* Has an immune system that is compromised due to reasons such as being HIV positive or consumption of certain drugs following an organ transplant.
Those with dark or olive skin experience better protection from the sun due to the fact that they produce more melanin in the skin than people with fair skin. However, the ultraviolet radiation in the sun is stronger in Australia thus people with dark and olive skin need to protect their skin also.
You can protect your skin from cancer by:
* Keeping out of the sun between 11am and 3pm, when the sun is at its strongest. More than 60% of the sun’s radiation reaches the earth’s surface during these hours.
* Using as much shade as possible, such as umbrellas, trees and buildings. Shades should be chosen carefully as ultraviolet radiation can bounce off surfaces such as water, concrete and sand which can cause sunburn
* Wear clothing that will cover you as much as possible, especially the back of your neck. Shirts should have long sleeves, trousers; skirts should cover all the legs. Woven fabric provides the best protection.
* Hats should be worn to protect the face, ears and neck and should have a brim that is at least 8-10cm.
* Sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 30 should be worn whenever in the sun. It should be water resistant and be applied at least 20 minutes before going into the sun and reapplied ever two hours or straight after swimming or sweating.
* Eyes should be protected with sunglasses
* Avoid tanning machines such as sun lamps
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