What Causes Skin Cancer
and the Risk Factor?
What causes skin cancer? All skin cancer begins in cells - the building blocks that form the skin. Normally skin cells grow and divide to form new cells. Every day skin cells grow old and die. New cells take their place.
Sometimes this orderly process goes wrong. New cells form when the skin does not need them and old cells do not die when they should. These extra cells can form a mass of tissue called a growth or tumor. This is growth or tumor can be benign (not cancer) or malignant (cancerous).
What are the Risk Factors?
Anything that increases a person's chance of developing a disease is called a risk factor. Studies have discovered the following risk factors are what causes skin cancer:- Ultraviolet radiation : Ultraviolet radiation comes from the sun, sunlamps, tanning beds/booth. A person's risk of skin cancer is related to lifetime exposure to UV radiation
- Severe skin problem : scars or burns on the skin
- Virus infection : a small number of skin cancers seem to be linked to infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) that cause warts different from the common type of warts that people get on their hands and feet. The HPV-related warts appear in the genital and the area around the anus and are linked to skin cancers in these areas.
- Exposure to chemicals : exposure to large amount of arsenic, industrial tar, coal and paraffin
- Disease that make the skin sensitive to the sun : xeroderma pigmentosum, a very rare disease that hampers the skin's ability to repair damage caused by the sun
- Radiation therapy : people who have had radiation treatment have a higher risk of getting skin cancer in the area that was treated
- Weakened immune system : people who have had an organ transplant often take medicine to weaken the immune system in order to keep the body from rejecting the organ
- Personal history of skin cancer : anyone who has had a skin cancer before has a higher chance of having another one.
- Family history of skin cancer : having two or more close relatives who have had skin cancer is a risk factor
- Fair skin : people with light-coloured skin that freckles or burn easily are at higher risk
- Treatment of psoriasis : those treated for a long-lasting skin disease with Psoralen and ultraviolet light(PUVA)
- Dysplastic nevi : these abnormal moles are more likely than ordinary mole to become cancerous
- More than 50 ordinary moles : having many moles increases the risk
- Severe and blistering sunburns : people who have had at least one severe, blistering sunburn as a child or teenager are at increase risk
- Actinic keratosis : is a type of flat, scaly growth most often found on areas exposed to the sun
- Bowen's disease : is a type of scaly or thickened patch on the skin
Although many risk factors can be avoided, it is important to note that avoiding the risk factors does not guarantee that you will not get skin cancer. Similarly most people with a particular risk factor for cancer do not actually suffer from it.
Doctors cannot always explain why one person develops skin cancer and another does not and what causes skin cancer? You can review the signs of skin cancer and when in doubt always consult a doctor
Take a QUIZ! Can one be genetically pre-disposed to skin cancer? YES or NO?
The answer is YES. With skin cancer, the environment plays a part. But individuals can be born with a genetic disposition towards developing cancer.
Related Articles
There are many types of skin cancer.
All the facts about skin cancer.
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