Types of skin cancer that attacks humans

by Dane Masters

At a local store that I had been to recently, I was quite impressed by the hair coloring of the clerk there. I told her how good it looked with that dark base and the streaks that looked so natural; as if sun kissed. This led us to talking about how earlier when we were young we did not have to resort to any hair dyes. We just had to apply SunIn and stay in the sun for a couple of hours to get the desired hair color. We also discussed how that was almost impossible to be done now what with us destroying the ozone layer and thereby exposing ourselves to the harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun. (SunIn, by the way is just a pump spray and not at all an aerosol)

You have however not come to this page to know more about sun free hair coloring methods, what you want to know more about is the many types of skin cancers. There is evidence that chemicals as well as the damaging rays of the sun are possible causes of skin cancer, but since we are not doctors or experts, what you would find here is some basic knowledge about skin cancer.

There are three types of skin cancer: Basal Cell Carcinoma (a.k.a. non-melanoma skin cancer); Squamous Cell Carcinoma; and Melanoma.

Melanoma (also called Malignant Melanoma or Cutaneous Melanoma) - The cancer cells take birth in the melanocytes which is the pigment that gives skin its color. The University of Maryland medicine says that Melanoma is the most harmful of all the different types of skin cancer. It mostly occurs in people who have fair skin, light hair and light eyes. It also occurs in people who have other complexions too. People who have brown or black complexion are equally at risk of contracting Melanoma. The symptoms of the disease includes moles that have recently changed color, shape, size, or its state (if it starts to ooze or bleed), or a mole that according to the University of Maryland medicine is swollen, itchy, or hard.

Squamous Cell Carcinoma-Also called non-melanoma skin cancer, Squamous Cell Carcinoma usually begins as a red-looking, scaly patch or patches of skin, or can appear as nodules. Of the three types of skin cancer, Squamous, affecting Caucasians, usually fair-complected, is the second most common and shows up, typically, on the ears (ear-rims), face, lips, and mouth.

Basal Cell Carcinoma- It is another of the most commonly found skin cancers. This type of cancer begins as a fleshy nodule in the neck, hands or the head. According to University of Maryland medicine this type of cancer affects 90% of the people in the US. This type of cancer too mostly affects the Caucasians.

My mother had the second most common of the types of skin cancer, on her lip, and while we at first teased her that it was herpes, she was smart enough to know it was a "sun blister" and quick enough to catch it by going to a specialist. That's the good news, to give you hope when you bemoan the loss of days picnicking, swimming, and "bathing" under the wonderful sun.