Skin Cancer Research Paper

Skin cancer is the unconstrained growth of irregular skin cells. Skin cancer begins when damaged DNA produces mutations, or genetic defects, that causes the skin cells to spread quickly and form malignant tumors. There are three types of cancer: basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma. Each year, there are over 5.4 million occurrences of nonmelanoma skin cancer that are treated in more than 3.3 million people. The past three decades, there have been more people who’ve been diagnosed with skin than all other cancers joined. Skin cancer has increased dramatically over the years but there are ways to prevent developing cancers and there are experimental treatments being tried to cure malignant skin cancers.

The best way to lower the chances of getting skin cancer is by avoiding long exposure of the sun. Seeking shade when the sun is out is the best way to avoid getting skin cancer. In addition to avoiding long periods under the sun, also avoid tanning salons and sunlamps. The UVB radiation from tanning lights causes premature skin aging and is the main cause of sunburn. "The rise in skin-cancer rates boils down to UV exposure," says Dawn Holman, a behavioral scientist in the division of cancer prevention and control at the CDC and a lead writer of the Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent Skin Cancer. "If we can decrease that, we can decrease the number of skin cancers." Another way to prevent getting skin cancer is by applying sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or more that holds an UVA and UVB shield. Wearing clothing is also beneficial because the clothing can protect skin from the sun’s rays and what the sunblock hasn’t already blocked. If there is a possible risk for skin cancer and there is a transformation in one’s skin after a self-exam, seek treatment from a

Treatments for skin cancer are surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. Researchers have been evaluating immunotherapy treatments as a method to cure cancer. The major task they have met is guiding the body to understand that cancer cells are foreign. Thus far, 25 percent of patients have been fully cured. Surgery is the conclusive treatment for early-stage melanoma. Since the treatment of melanoma is surgery, medical management is kept for therapy of patients with advanced melanoma. Less than one half of patients with regional lymph node have long-term disease-free survival. Interferon alfa is permitted for adjuvant treatment after excision in patients are clear of the disease but are at great risk for relapse. As of right now, there are no standard treatments that offers patients with metastatic melanoma without significant risk of