Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the body. It is usually caused by excessive exposure to UV rays, both from the sun and from artificial sources (UV tanning booths). These rays penetrate the skin and damage it, and their effects can be seen much later.
Usual areas where skin cancer occurs
In relation to the main cause of skin cancer, exposure to ultraviolet rays, the parts of the skin with the greatest exposure to the sun are those with the highest incidence. Thus, for example, the most frequent locations would be the nose, forehead, nape of the neck and ears, as well as the back of the hands.
What is meant by inadequate exposure to the sun?
Any exposure that leads to burning is considered inappropriate, i.e. reddening with discomfort when the skin is rubbed and subsequent peeling. This occurs in people whose skin color is light and who have light eyes and hair, or those who have many freckles or red hair.
Basic skin cancer prevention tips
It is recommended to avoid sun exposure during the hours with the highest amount of radiation, that is, between 12:00 and 17:00 hours, or to protect oneself with clothes, hats or photoprotectors with SPF protection factor higher than 15.
What is melanoma?
Melanoma is a malignant tumor originating from melanocytes, the cells that produce skin pigment. When they appear on the skin, they can be easily detected, only by observing moles or black spots on the skin that grow, itch, bleed or show any change in a short period of time. If it is diagnosed in its early stages it can be completely cured, but if it is detected late it is a tumor with a high mortality rate.
Does the skin have a memory?
It is true that the skin has a memory. It is a manifestation in which the alterations of the nucleic acids of the skin are altered when it receives ultraviolet rays. These alterations add up over time and eventually result in skin cancer. This means that we do not get the physiological repair of the alterations (which occurs at night), to be completed. For this reason, a burn can lead to skin cancer or melanoma.
What should alarm us to go to the dermatologist?
Any reappearance of a skin lesion or a change in an existing lesion should be an alarm signal to consult a dermatology expert. For example, the reappearance of a mole or the growth of another one would be an emergency.
What is Mohs micrographic surgery for skin cancer?
Mohs surgery consists of removing tumors by microscopic analysis of the edges of the tumor during the intervention. It is a particularly useful technique in:
- Tumors that reappear once removed.
- Tumors located in aesthetically important areas, such as the nose or eyelids, where the millimeters of skin that we save will be important to minimize the aesthetic defect of the intervention, ensuring the maximum rate of healing.
The advantages of Mohs surgery to treat skin cancer are proportional to the maximum safety in its total removal, leaving the minimum scar, saving healthy tissue that does not need to be removed.
Other techniques also exist and, in fact, sentinel lymph node, in melanoma and photodynamic therapy, two treatments that are already being implemented as routine, are beginning to be used.