Skin Cancer
How to prevent skin cancer, and how to catch it early if you don’t prevent it.
Summer is upon us, the time for the annual ritual of sun worship. People all over will offer their bodies as a sacrifice to the sun god, with hopes that they will receive a beautiful bronzed body in return. But the sun god extracts a price, causing burns, wrinkles, and the most serious price: skin cancer.
The podcast edition of this tip was sponsored by Go To Meeting. Save time and money by hosting your meetings online. Visit GoToMeeting.com/podcast and sign up for a free 45 day trial of their web conferencing solution.
What You Need to Know About Skin Cancer
Today’s article will focus on skin cancer, a problem that is becoming more and more common. In fact, skin cancer is the most common cancer there is. Period. The National Cancer Institute estimates that more than 1 million people will be diagnosed with skin cancer each year, and this number is growing.
The Three Types of Skin Cancer
That’s the bad news. The good news is that most of the skin cancer that will be diagnosed will not be life-threatening. There are three main types of skin cancer:
Basal cell carcinoma – which is the most common type, representing 75% of all skin cancers.
Squamous cell carcinoma – which is the next most common type, covering 20% of all skin cancers diagnosed.
Melanoma – which covers the remaining 5% of all skin cancers diagnosed.
That may seem like good news, as both basal and squamous cell cancers are rarely fatal and generally easy to treat. Unfortunately, that still leaves nearly 50,000 people each year getting one of the most deadly cancers out there: melanoma. Melanoma is the most common cause of cancer death in young adults. Even worse: the number of cases of melanoma has tripled in Caucasian Americans.
But there’s one last bit of good news: if melanoma is caught early, it can usually be cured. That’s why this subject is so important to cover. Pay attention! Learning to prevent or detect skin cancer early could definitely save your life.
What Causes Skin Cancer?
The main risk factor for skin cancer is sun exposure. But not all sun exposure is created equal when determining the risk of skin cancers. Basal and squamous cell cancers are associated with cumulative sun exposure over time. They occur on the parts of the body with the highest sun exposure, such as the face, arms, and neck.
Melanoma risk is increased by intense, intermittent sun exposures, especially in childhood. They especially seem to occur in areas that get only intermittent exposure, such as the back in men and legs in women. Using tanning beds is a risk factor too; according to a , using tanning beds can put you at a higher risk of getting melanoma.
Risk Factors for Skin Cancer
Other risk factors for skin cancer include:
Race – Caucasians have a much higher incidence of skin cancer compared to African Americans, Hispanics, or Native Americans.
Geography – the closer to the equator a Caucasian person lives, the higher the risk of developing skin cancer.
Genetics – a family history of skin cancer, especially melanoma, and a light complexion that burns easily will increase a person’s risk significantly.
Having many moles – having a certain type of skin lesion, or mole, known as a dysplastic nevus, will make you more prone to melanoma.
How to Prevent Skin Cancer
The best kind of cancer is one you don’t get in the first place, so prevention is key when dealing with skin cancer. Prevent exposure to ultraviolet by either using sunscreen or avoiding intense sun exposure altogether.
The best data at this time show that basal and squamous cell skin cancers can be prevented using sunscreen, and melanoma probably can be prevented. A recent study suggested that sunscreen may increase skin cancer, but this seems to be a low risk compared to that of sun exposure. Use a sunscreen, especially one with an SPF of 30 that blocks the two main forms of ultraviolet radiation: UVA and UVB. Reapply it every 2 hours. Don’t think you’re safe if you tan and not burn. Any level of tan is actually skin damage and you should be wearing sunscreen any time you are in the sun.
What Does Skin Cancer Look Like?
What if you’re like me and have already spent many years in the sun? I had the vast majority of my sun exposure as a child, which was before anyone used sunscreen. Even though we can’t change what sun damage we may have already sustained, we can pay attention to our skin now. The vital thing with skin cancer is early detection; as I said before, early detection of melanoma can make the difference between a minor skin procedure and a highly fatal cancer.
Since dermatology is a visual thing, I am going to put a bunch of links at the bottom of this article to pictures of each type of skin cancer. Familiarize yourself with them and examine yourself, have someone examine you, or have a doctor check you on a regular basis.
How to Spot Skin Cancer
Here are the basics:
Basal cell cancers are normal skin-colored and are raised, round and smooth. They most commonly occur on the face, especially on the nose.
Squamous cell cancers are often preceded by a slightly raised, rough, and sometimes darker lesion known as an actinic keratosis. The cancers are not as smooth as basal cell cancers and are the most common skin cancer in dark-skinned people.
Melanoma cancers are made up of the cells that produce the dark substance, melanin. These spots are usually brown or black, but can also be flesh-colored, red, pink and even blue, purple, or white at times.
How to Spot Melanoma
Melanomas have a nice easy mnemonic to remember what to watch out for, known as the ABCDEs of melanoma.
A – Asymmetry – round lesions aren’t as worrisome as irregularly-shaped ones. If you draw a line through your mole and the two sides don’t match up, then it’s asymmetrical.
B – Border – lesions with a distinct border are less worrisome than those where the border between the lesion and the regular skin is indistinct or gradual.
C – Color – lesions that are a single color are less worrisome than those that are made up of several colors.
D – Diameter – If a spot is less than 6 mm, or the size of a pencil eraser across, it is less worrisome than those greater than 6 mm.
E – Evolving – any spot that changes–whether in color, shape, size, elevation, or any other way– is worth worrying about and should be checked out immediately.
In addition to the ABCDEs, doctors have recently added another type of skin lesion to watch out for: moles that look different from the other moles on your body. Known as the “Ugly Duckling” detection tool, the idea is that noncancerous, or “normal” moles on a person’s body resemble each other, but a mole that looks or feels different than all of the other moles—and it might not display any of the aforementioned ABCDE features—might indicate melanoma.
Again, I’ll include lots of links to photos of skin cancer at the bottom of this transcript.
Bottom Line on Skin Cancer
So what’s the bottom line on skin cancer? There are two main quick and dirty tips I can give:
Prevention – don’t get sunburned or spend hours in tanning beds. If you do spend time outside in the sun, use a good sunscreen and reapply often.
Detection – familiarize yourself with the different kinds of skin cancer and get checked on a regular basis – especially if you have a family history of skin cancer or a history of multiple sunburns. If you do see any spots that you are unsure of, get them checked out by your doctor. And you should probably also schedule an annual appointment with a dermatologist. As much as I support primary care, studies have shown that dermatologists are much better at recognizing melanoma than are primary care docs.
Click here to find out about preventing heat exhaustion during those hot summer months.
That’s it for today!
If you have topics that you want me to cover, send them to create new email, or you can submit them to me on twitter or my Facebook page.
Let me once again remind you that this podcast is for informational purposes only. My goal is to add to your medical knowledge and translate some of the weird medical stuff you hear, so when you do go to your doctor, your visits will be more fruitful. I don’t intend to replace your doctor; he or she is the one you should always consult about your own medical condition.
Catch you next time! Stay Healthy!
Links:
ABCDE’s of Skin cancer: https://www.skincancer.org/the-abcdes-of-melanoma.html
https://www.melanomafoundation.org/prevention/abcd.htm (Leave off the E)
“Ugly Duckling” – https://www.skincancer.org/the-ugly-duckling-sign.html
Actinic Keratosis – https://www.skincancer.org/Actinic-Keratosis-and-Other-Precancers.html
Doing a self-exam: https://www.melanomafoundation.org/prevention/self.htm
Basal Cell Carcinoma: https://www.skincancer.org/basal-cell-carcinoma.html
Squamous Cell Carcinoma: https://www.skincancer.org/squamous-cell-carcinoma.html
The Dermatology Blog (excellent resource on all things skin): http:/thedermblog.com
Soaking up Sun image from Shutterstock