Series: 13 days of Oncology with Kishan Sivakumar
Skin Cancer
Skin cancer constitutes the “abnormal growth of skin cells”, with the leading cause of sunlight exposure, causing subsets of skin cancer like “basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma” (“Skin cancer”). The leading cause of skin cancer is “exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation”; thus, countries that lie on the equator may be susceptible to the fatal disease and require equipment to “help detect skin cancer at its earliest stages” (“Skin cancer”). The initial signs of skin cancer can be detected “primarily on areas of sun-exposed skin”; however, it can also “form on areas that rarely see the light of day” (“Skin cancer”). Specifically, Basal cell carcinoma can occur on one’s “neck or face…[and] may appear as” bumps and sores (“Skin cancer”). Furthermore, another form of skin cancer, Squamous cell carcinoma, occurs mainly on the “face, ears, and hands”, in which individuals “with darker skins are more likely to develop squamous cell carcinoma” causing nodules and lesions (“Skin cancer”). Melanoma, another form of skin cancer, “can develop anywhere on” one’s body, causing areas of skin to become cancerous, causing speckles, moles, or lesions (“Skin cancer”). Outside of these common forms of skin cancer, there are also Kaposi sarcoma, Markel cell carcinoma, and Sebaceous gland carcinoma (“Skin cancer”). With the disease being one that can be easily contracted, it is unfortunate that it is also fatal, as “more than 2 people die of skin cancer every hour” (Skin Cancer Foundation).
Bone Cancer
Bone cancer has the versatility to affect “any bone in the body”; however, it predominantly “affects the pelvis or the long bones” and only constitutes “1 percent of all cancers” (“Bone cancer”). Although “noncancerous bone tumors are…more common than cancerous ones”, a substantiated detection of Bone cancer requires “surgical removal…[or] chemotherapy [or] radiation therapy” (“Bone cancer”). Bone cancer comes in three main types, Chondrosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma, and Osteosarcoma, some of which have the capability of causing fatigue, bone vulnerability, creation of tumors, and creation of extraskeletal osteosarcomas (“Bone cancer”). While the corroborated “cause of most bone cancer is unknown”, it likely has an innate correlation to “hereditary factors…[and] radiation exposure” (“Bone cancer”). Ultimately, one who has an increased probability of developing a form of bone cancer will likely experience effects from “inherited genetic syndromes…[,] Paget’s disease of bone[, and] Radiation therapy for cancer (“Bone cancer”). Bone cancer is largely considered as a disease with an innate fatality, with a ratio of “about 3,910 new cases diagnosed” to “about 2,100 deaths” in 2022 (“Key Statistics About…”). However, it is rather uncommon as it only accounts for “less than 1% of all cancers” and limits the rate of bone metastasis in populations (“Key Statistics About…”).
Sources:
“Bone Cancer.” American Cancer Society, https://www.cancer.org/cancer/bone-cancer.html.
“Bone Cancer.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 22 Mar.
2022,
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/bone-cancer/symptoms-causes/syc-20350217#:~
:text=Osteosarcoma%20is%20the%20most%20common,of%20bones%20(extraskeletal%20oste
osarcomas).
“Skin Cancer.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 5 Dec.
2020,
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/skin-cancer/symptoms-causes/syc-20377605#:~:
text=Skin%20cancer%20%E2%80%94%20the%20abnormal%20growth,squamous%20cell%20c
arcino.
“The Skin Cancer Foundation Official Website.” The Skin Cancer Foundation, 9 Nov. 2022,
https://www.skincancer.org/.
Image: https://selecthealth.org/blog/2019/07/5-tips-for-preventing-skin-cancer
