There is an increasing number of skin cancer cases amongst Americans and this is one of the most commonest forms of cancer. Even so, it can be cured if diagnosed at an early enough stage and so it is necessary for you to know more about skin cancer and its symptoms to understand its signs and act on it early enough.
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To begin with, the skin keeps the body free from infection as well as from injury and also keeps the body’s temperature in check. Being the largest organ in the human body, skin is essentially made of an outer layer also known as the epidermis and an inner layer known simply as dermis.
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There are two skin cancer types that are known as melanoma as well as non-melanoma. The former type of skin cancer is very common and can be cured easily as well. The latter form of skin cancer is malignant melanoma and is a major cause of concern being extremely dangerous and very difficult as far as treating it is concerned. Though melanoma can affect any part of the human body, it is most often found on the legs of women as well as on male body trunks. If diagnosed early enough, it can be cured though melanoma can also affect more than one part of the body spreading out and thus is harder to treat. On the other hand, non-melanoma can be either basal cell cancer or squamous cell cancer and affects a person through too much exposure to the sun. Basal cell cancer is a commonly found skin cancer and occurs deep down in the skin’s layers while squamous cancer affects the upper parts of the skin’s layers.
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The symptoms of skin cancer can be seen when there may be moles on the skin or a growth in the skin that will change color as well as seems to be translucent, tan, black or multicolored, or even brown. The skin growth may also be larger than a mole and there may be redness or inflammation around the edges, or the size may become bigger or thicker.
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Other symptoms of skin cancer include noticing changes in texture, changes in shape as well as the size of the mole or growth is bigger than the size of a pencil eraser. You may also feel pain as well as start to itch and there may be crusty skin or scabs forming on the skin. There may also be oozing as well as some amount of bleeding in the skin.
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If one or more of these skin cancer symptoms are present and they persist for more than a month then you should consult your doctor to get an evaluation of the condition, which might or might not be skin cancer symptoms. In case the physician suspects skin cancer a skin biopsy may required that will depend on the skin cancer type, location as well as size of the affected part.
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