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Skin Cancer Research Paper

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Skin cancer is an abnormal growth of cells, and there are three main types of skin cancer. Squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma and lastly malignant melanoma, the one that we are going to focus on. While it is not the most common type of skin cancer, that is basal cell carcinoma, it is the most dangerous/deadly.
Malignant melanoma is a type of skin cancer that develops in the melanocytes in basil layer of the epidermis. Melanocytes produce melanin and deposits them in the epidermis cells which gives you your skin color and helps protect your skin. Melanoma usually appears on your skin, but it can also be in your eyes, some of your internal organs and showing up as dark lines in your nails. When it appears in your eyes, internal …show more content…

Typically, people with fair skin, light colored eyes and hair, have freckles and burn easily instead of tanning are more likely to get malignant melanoma than anyone else. Although melanoma accounts for less than 2% of skin cancers, it is responsible for the clear majority of deaths from skin cancers (Tan, 2016). The American Cancer Society (2016) estimates that the current year about 76,000 new cases will be diagnosed and that there will be around 10,000 deaths due to this. Worldwide, the occurrence of malignant melanoma cases has been rapidly increasing, and it is doing so faster than any other cancer besides lung cancer in women. Queensland, Australia and Israel have the highest occurrence of melanoma in the world (Tan, 2016). Melanoma can affect anyone of any race or age it rarely effects children under the age of ten. The average age to be diagnosed with it is 57 years old and women usually get diagnosed at an earlier age then men, usually before the age of …show more content…

Make sure that there are no new spots showing up or previous spots that are changing. For a more thorough exam you need to go to a dermatologist. They do a head to toe exam of the whole body and will check the places most people forget about or cannot see. To get a better look, a dermatologist may use a device called a dermoscope. The device shines light on the skin. It magnifies the skin. This helps the dermatologist to see pigment and structures in the skin (American Academy of Dermatology, 2016). If anything is found that is a concern, a biopsy will be done. This is where part of or all the suspicious lesion/mole will be removed and sent to a lab for

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