SkinCancer essays

SkinCancer essays Before you can fully understand skin cancer, it helps to know a little about what cancer is in general. Cancer is a group of many different diseases that have some important things in common. Normal cells grow and divide only when needed, but cancerous cells keep dividing when they are not needed, which creates the tumor. There are two types of tumors to be aware of and they are: benign and malignant. While both may cause alarm, only one needs to cause one to seriously worry. Benign tumors are not cancerous and do not spread, but on the other hand, malignant tumors are cancerous. They are abnormal and divide without control. Since malignant tumors can divide, it is possible to have cancer in one area of the body and over time end up with it elsewhere. This process is called metastasis. Metastasis is when cancer cells can break away from the malignant tumor and enter the bloodstream or lymphatic system. One of the easiest forms of cancer to detect is skin cancer. To fully u nderstand what skin cancer is, you must know what the skin is made up of. The skin is composed of numerous layers. The layer that skin cancer originates in is the epidermis. It is made up of flat, scale-like cells called squamous cells. Underneath these cells are basal cells. Also within the epidermis are melanocytes. Melanocytes, found in the deepest part of the epidermis, produce melanin, which gives us our skin color. Skin cancer is divided into three major categories: basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma. The most common, basal cell carcinoma, accounts for 90% of all skin cancers in the United States. This skin cancer arises from the basal cells in the epidermis. Basal cell carcinoma is a slow growing cancer that rarely spreads. It can invade and destroy nearby bone and cartilage. On the other hand, squamous cell carcinoma begins in the squamous cells of the epidermis. This, too, rarely spreads, but does more so than...