What is Skin Cancer?
Skin cancer is a disease caused by the development of cancerous cells in any of the layers of the skin.
There are two types: non-melanoma and melanoma.
The non-melanoma cancer is the most common and is called nonmelanoma because they formed from other skin cells are not accumulating pigment (melanocytes). Within this type are all skin cancers less malignant melanoma is less common and more malignant and explained below.
Skin cancer is most prevalent among white skinned people who have spent much time exposed to sunlight, especially when sun exposure occurred in childhood and there were numerous sunburn. Although it may appear anywhere on the skin, is more common than is presented on the face, neck, hands and arms.
This cancer is one of the most common of all cancers, and diagnosed an estimated two million new cases per year worldwide.
In recent years, the incidence of malignant melanoma has increased dramatically, has multiplied by 3.3 in males and 2.5 in women over the last twenty years in Spain. Despite this, less than 3% of all tumors and early detection campaigns have allowed the mortality is reduced by 30% since the seventies.
You can recognize a change in the appearance of the skin, like a wound that does not heal or a small bump. You may also see a red, rough or scaly skin with a tendency to grow.
Any changes or abnormality of the skin, one must see the doctor. It can extract and analyze a sample (biopsy) to check whether a tumor is malignant or not.