Types & Risks Of Skin Cancer

Types of skin cancer

Skin cancer can occur anywhere on the body, but occurs most frequently on parts of the body bare to sunlight, such as the face, ear, neck, and hands.1 The pinnacle layer of skin is called the epidermis, which contain three kinds of cells: flat, scaly cells on the surface called squamous cells; round cells called basal cells; and cells called melanocytes that color the skin. There are two types of skin cancer:

    Non-melanoma (basal or squamous cell) skin cancer is the majority common type and can be fast or slow growing but rarely spreads to other parts of the body.

    Melanoma occurs when cancer cells are found in the melanocytes. Melanoma accounts for a small percentage of skin cancer but is far more dangerous and causes the majority of skin cancer deaths. The good news is that it is almost always curable when detected early. For localized melanoma, the 5-year survival rate is 96%.1

Risks

Some of the risk factors for skin cancer include:

1.         Over-exposure to natural or artificial sunlight;
2.         Fair complexion (blond or red hair, fair skin, green or blue eyes);
3.         Northern European heritage;
4.         Exposure to coal tar, pitch, creosote, arsenic compounds, or radium;
5.         Multiple or atypical moles;
6.         Family history; and
7.         Having actinic keratosis (rough, raised scaly patches on the skin).