Skin Cancer: Causes, Stage, Diagnosis & Treatment
There are various types of skin cancer that have become quite prevalent these days. While some may develop in areas exposed to the sun, others might affect the most unexpected places. Skin cancer or the abnormal development of skin cells can be of different types, and each of them shows a varied range of symptoms. You can reduce the risk of skin cancer by avoiding direct exposure to UV radiation. Read ahead to learn more about skin cancer as we are going to discuss here the probable causes, stages of skin cancer, the diagnosis areas, and the treatment methods.
Causes
Mutation in the DNA of skin cells is the primary cause of skin cancer as the cells grow uncontrollably and form lumps of cancer cells. The outermost skin layer is called the epidermis, which is the main area that initially gets affected by cancer.
The role of this epidermis layer is to offer a protective shield to the skin cells of the body, and skin cancer often hinders the functional capability of the epidermis. Most of the DNA damage in the skin cells occurs due to the harmful radiation of the sunlight.
Certain areas are not exposed to the sunrays in any way but still do get affected with skin cancer. That signifies that there are several other factors except for UV radiation which leads to skin cancer but is yet to be detected by the experts.
Stages
Cancer often attacks a small portion of the body but keeps reproducing rapidly, which further lets it spread in other areas of the body if it is not detected early. There are several benefits of staging cancer; doctors use it to understand the cancer type vividly with the help of these stages.
Even though the effect of cancer varies from person to person, the treatment planning often ends up being identical in the case of the same-stage cancer diagnosis. A TNM classification system is a tool that doctors use to stage different varieties of cancer.
It involves mainly three points: tumor size and its depth into the skin, the lymph node involvement, and whether cancer has spread to any other portions of the body. Usually, the cancers are staged from 0 to 4, where the lower number denotes the least affect/spread of cancer and stage 4 refers to be the most advanced state where cancer has spread into several organs of the body.
The further detailing of the stages differs based on the skin type where cancer has been affected.
Diagnosis
The first steps which are followed for determining whether you are affected with cancer are:
Examination of the skin: A doctor might examine the outer layer of the skin to spot any signs, which might give an idea if further testing is required or not.
Removal or collection of a sample of suspicious skin for biopsy: An expert will collect a part of suspicious skin for testing in a process called a biopsy. It is the most beneficial method to find out whether you have skin cancer and if yes, it will further determine the type and several other factors about it.
Determining the stage: If you have cancer, the doctor will conduct several other tests such as imaging tests to detect the type and the places where it has spread. The cancer staging will further allow doctors to chalk out the suitable treatment methods that will be most fruitful in removing cancer from your body.
Treatment
Small skin cancers quite often do not demand further tests more than a biopsy, after which the complete growth is removed from the skin. However, if a person needs other treatment options, the following methods are incorporated within the treatment procedure.
Freezing: The early skin cancer types are frozen with the usage of liquid nitrogen, and the dead tissues shed off once it thaws.
Excisional surgery: This method is helpful for almost all types of cancer where an extra layer of healthy skin is also removed along with the affected area.
Mohs Surgery: This procedure is applied to those areas which are difficult to treat or are affected on a large area.
Curettage and electrodesiccation or cryotherapy: In this method, after successfully removing a significant portion of cancer growth, the left out portion is scraped out using a sharp object.
Radiation therapy: It uses high-energy radiation for killing cancer cells. This method is used in those cases where surgery could not eliminate cancer from the body completely.
Photodynamic therapy: A combination of drugs and laser light is used to make the cancer cells sensitive to light, and it is further destroyed with the help of the light rays.
Biological therapy: It uses the immune system of the body for killing cancer cells.
Ending Note
Early detection helps to start treating cancer at an early stage which increases the chances of recovery. Therefore, it is the best choice to consult a doctor (Oncology) as soon as you notice specific unusual changes in your skin.