Skin Cancer :: essays research papers

Skin Cancer Of all different kinds of cancer, skin cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in the United States. Skin cancer is a disease which cancer cells are found on the outer layers of the skin. Your skin protects the body from heat, infection, light, injury and infection. It also stores fat, water, and vitamin D. The skin has two layers and several different kinds of cells. With a certain lifestyle these cells can become cancerous.(Prodigy Web Browser: An Introduction to skin Cancer {NET}, 1997) Melanoma is associated with the highest case-fatality rate of all skin cancers.(Mortality and Morbility Weekly Report Vol. 45/No. 17 , {MMWR}, 1996) Numerous studies have delineated the natural history of skin cancers. Some cell carcinomas tend to grow and invade slowly and steadily. Certain subtypes are more aggressive, and certain sites of occurrence (scalp, shoulders and nose) are associated with worse cases. Malignant melanoma may have a thin stage, in which survival rates are excellent. The length of thin, or radial, growth phase may be months to years. If untreated at some point melanoma enters a quick growth phase. When this occurs the survival rates plummet.(Brandt, 1996) Skin Cancer can be avoided. A change in lifestyle can reduce the risk of skin cancer. This includes awareness of the reality of skin cancer, avoiding the sun, and self-examination and screening. Most of the time when people think of a serious disease they think of things like lung cancer, heart disease, sexually transmitted diseases, and other hot topic diseases of that nature. Skin cancer awareness and the seriousness of skin cancer is far less emphasized. The MMWR did a survey of knowledge of and awareness about melanoma in the united states in 1995. In 1996, an estimated 38,300 cases of melanoma were diagnosed, and an approximately 7300 melanoma deaths would occur . Intervention strategies can be developed with information and public awareness of melanoma. (MMWR) To help awareness and public knowledge about melanoma, the American Academy of Dermatology conducted a nation wide survey in 1995. (shown in appendix A) This report summarizes the survey findings, which indicate that a high proportion (42%) of respondents had no knowledge about melanoma. The level of awareness was lowest among persons aged 18 to 24 years of age.(MMWR) Respondents were asked "Can you tell me what melanoma is?"; 55% knew it was a type of cancer, 34% knew it was a type of skin cancer and 42% did not know about melanoma. After being informed on melanoma, they identified at least one risk factor of it. Most identified the risk