This type of skin cancer is very rare, occurring just below the skin or more often in the hair follicles. It is more common amongst people over sixty or people who have had organ transplants. The feeling is that because of the drugs that are necessary to take to suppress the immune system, so that the transplanted organ will not be rejected, this cancer is able to get a foothold. It is a fast spreading cancer and so needs to be caught early to have a good outcome.

Its appearance is somewhat different than the other skin cancers. This one comes out in nodules, or tumors, that are shiny and dense. They can be anywhere from a half inch to two inches in size and appear bluish, pink or red. Like many of the other skin cancers Merkel cell carcinoma is more likely to appear on the head or neck. Half the cases diagnosed will be there. A third of the remaining cases are found on the arms and legs.

If Merkel cell carcinoma is suspected your health care provider will do a physical. Then they will want to do a complete family history. They will need your personal medical history as well. Allergies to medications, and even your preferences to treatment will all be discussed.

Merkel call carcinoma is a tricky cancer to treat, as it often resembles other cancers. A biopsy is necessary to determine what it is. When your physician examines you, they will check your lymph nodes for swelling, and will do blood work to check blood cell counts. The doctor will also conduct a liver function test and may suggest a CT scan. All of this together will help your physician be able to make a proper diagnosis.

If Merkel cell carcinoma is confirmed the first step in treatment is surgery. The tumor must be surgically removed, as must some healthy tissue around it. If there are reasons that the tumor cannot be removed then the next step will be to use radiation therapy or chemotherapy to attempt to shrink the tumor. Tests will also be done to investigate the nearby lymph nodes. If there is any fear of the cancer having spread to the lymph nodes they will be removed as a preventative measure.

Radiation treatment may be chosen as the treatment plan. This therapy uses x-rays at a higher than normal energy to shrink or hopefully kill cancerous tumors. This therapy is used either of two ways. Either a machine is used to deliver the radiation therapy or radioisotopes are put into the body to fight the cancer. This is called internal radiation therapy. Chemotherapy is drug therapy and uses poisons to kill the cancer, being careful not to use so much that it kills the host as well. This type of therapy is taken either by pills or intravenously.

The most important thing to remember is if you see something that looks wrong, or wasn’t there before see your physician immediately, it could save your life.

When you first hear the name Kaposi’s sarcoma many of you will think of that scene in the movie Philadelphia when the young lawyer played by Tom Hanks is asked what he has on his face. He replies he has AIDS. Most people assume that Kaposi’s sarcoma is a disease of AIDS. That is only half right the other half is the more important part.

Dr. Moritz Kaposi originally wrote about this cancer in 1872; it was, obviously, named after its discoverer. The original thinking was that it was a disease of older European men of Jewish or Italian background or young African men. Eventually they added patients who had had organ transplants to that list. Originally very few women suffered this disease. The ratio was fifteen older men for every one woman. Around the time that AIDS was becoming known the ratio changed and it was four men diagnosed for every one woman. Researchers are unsure of the reason for this change.

Once HIV became a known entity, over twenty years ago, that became the source of most of the current cases of Kaposi’s sarcoma. With better treatments for HIV and AIDS the incidences of this sarcoma have dropped in the last five years by over eighty percent. This is a big step in the right direction!

Kaposi’s sarcoma itself is not life threatening. The lesions, or sores, that develop because of it are sometimes painful, sometimes disfiguring, and can cause swelling depending on where they are located. They usually occur in the mouth, nose, anus or genital areas. Or can develop in the skin surrounding the eyes or on the legs. The lesions resemble large blemishes. They can be red, purple or brownish in color. But their size or color is not the issue nor is the pain they may cause. The scary part of Kaposi’s sarcoma is that it spread to the organs, particularly to the lungs, gastrointestinal tract and liver. This is when it becomes a serious life threatening disease. If it spreads to the lungs it can cause difficulty breathing. If it gets into the gastrointestinal tract it can cause serious bleeding.

Kaposi’s sarcoma is divided into three sub-groups; African KS, Transplant-Related KS and AIDS-Related KS. Each one has a slightly different set of issues to deal with. The African type was discovered in Equatorial Africa. It starts earlier than the others, but usually doesn’t spread into the body’s organs. But it has another form that strikes young children, before they hit puberty; developing in girls one third as frequently as the boys. This one is a killer usually within three years. Transplant-Related is one hundred and fifty times more likely to develop in transplant patients because of the immune suppression drugs they must take. But, it’s more likely to only affect the skin. Lastly, is the AIDS-Related type and. this one can be the worst. But recently new improved treatments have been developed to greatly reduce the incidences of this disease in AIDS sufferers.

I have heard that sunburns do not become skin cancer immediately. How many months or years does it take for a sunburn to become skin cancer?

My friend recently had a sunburn. Her sunburn was not healing and it became worse, so she went to a dermatologist 3 months after the sunburn happened. The dermatologist found that she has skin cancer. Could it be that she had skin cancer all along, and the recent sunburn did not cause her cancer?

The first time in over year this morning scratched my arm and got really scared that since it hurt little and bthe morning scratched it had developed skin cancer is it had developed skin cancer is it possible to notice aafter just one time in over year this morning after you go tanning yesterday.