Skin Cancer Essay

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Skin Cancer: Melanoma Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer to be found in a population. More than 3.5 million people were diagnosed with skin cancer in the year of 2014. (American Cancer Society, 2015) There are three main types of skin cancer: Melanoma, Basal, and Squamous. (Gardner, 2012) Skin cancer is caused by large amounts of exposed skin to ultraviolet light. For skin cancer to develop, the skin has to absorb large quantities of exposed UV rays. It damages the cells creating the growth of skin cells to repair and replace the damaged ones. The forming of newer cells continue its growth and does not stop, producing a ball of cells, a tumor. (Skin Cancer Foundation, 2015) “Once that chemical energy has been absorbed by the DNA, …show more content…

Some risk factors contributing to melanoma are people with fair skin, have had sunburns, having moles, living close or near the equator, a family history of the disease, and an weaken immune system. (Mayo Clinic, 2015) However, a patient who may have fair skin is easier targeted to have sunburns, having sunburns means that the skin is repairing from the UV rays, and at times the growth of cells, from repairing, may not stop. As represented in figure 1, in the US patients who are white are diagnosed three to four times as much as other races. Another risk factor would be having moles on the skin contributing to a way for melanoma to be produced. For a patient who live closer to the equator versus a patient who lives on the north pole, the patient who lives closer to the equator is more likely to be susceptible to melanoma. The closer one is from the equator the higher chance the person is affected to UV rays. Also, having a family history of the disease can be passed down to offspring and the patient who has a family history has an increased risk of reviving the disease. Additionally, having a weak immune system causes an easier pathway for the build up of cells causing the cancer. (Mayo Clinic, 2015) All of the risk factors listed above, are all reasons to be aware of what one does in everyday

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