Metastatic Melanoma: A Skin Cancer
Joseph Castillo
St. Pius X- St. Matthias Academy
General Biology, Pr. 3
Ms. Nieshe Washington
Cancer: What is Cancer?
In general, the word cancer is the name given to a collection of related diseases (What is cancer? n.d.. ). In our everyday life multiple thousands of your cells divide in order to keep the function of that certain cell ongoing. Through out all types of cancer, the body begins to force cells to divide without cease which then spreads to the surrounding tissue. Cancer can take form in any part of the human body, were thousands of cells are cancerous. Through time human cells grow and divide to form new ones as it is a requirement for the body to keep functioning. Therefore
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Melanocytes are the cells responsible for the production of melanin, known as the tan or brown pigment produced to protect the skin from harmful sunrays. Melanocytes are located in the epidermis which is known as the first layer of skin. How melanoma skin cancer begins to form is by forming benign tumors. Which is basically a mass of non cancerous cells and have a slower growth rate than a malignant tumor. This is commonly seen as a (nevus) mole, this a form of a benign skin tumor due to melanocytes producing an abundant amount of melanin causing it to collect. Metastatic melanoma can nearly develop anywhere on the skin for males it is on the trunk, chest and upper body, were as for women it is common to see it on the legs. Metastatic can aslo spread through the epidermis and into the …show more content…
The most important warning sign for melanoma is a new spot on the skin or a spot that is changing in size, shape, or color. Another important sign is a spot that looks different from all of the other spots on your skin (known as the ugly duckling sign). (Signs and symptoms of melanoma skin cancer. n.d.) How melanoma skin cancer begins to form is by forming benign tumors. This is commonly seen as a mole (nevus) which is a benign skin tumor that develops from melanocytes. Melanomas can develop anywhere on the skin, but they are more likely to start on the trunk (chest and back) in men and on the legs in women. The neck and face are other common
Melanoma is a non-communicable disease and according to the Melanoma Institute of Australia, is a malignant skin cancer that affects thousands of individuals. It is a prevalent and serious non-communicable disease, making it an important issue in Australia. Both a biomedical perspective and sociological perspective must be considered to enable health practitioners to have a deep understanding about melanoma, and thus allow them to develop efficient and effective treatment and prevention methods.
Early diagnosis provides the best hope many have in beating cancer. Unfortunately, this is not the end of the fight for many cancer patients. Primary tumors may be successfully treated early, only to later discover they have metastasized to other areas of the body.
Melanocytes, embryologically derived from the neural crest, are distributed in the epidermis and thus are found throughout the skin. They produce a brown pigment known as melanin and are responsible for racial variation in skin color and also the color of moles. Malignant degeneration of the melanocyte gives rise to the tumor, melanoma, of which there are four subtypes. These are: superficial spreading, nodular, lentigo maligna, and acral lentiginous melanomas, accounting for 70%, 15% to 30%, 4% to 10%, and 2% to 8% of cases, respectively. Malignant melanoma may develop anywhere on the body. In men, it is most common on the trunk. In women, it is most common on the back or legs. The subtype also may influence where the tumor develops, lentigo melanoma is more common on the face while acral lentiginous melanoma is more common on the palms of the hand, soles of the feet, or in the nail beds.
Malignant Melanoma is a type of malignant cancer that affects the melanocytes. A melanocyte produces the pigmentation in our skin and melanin gives us the color to our skin. These cells occur in the skin and can be found in other parts of the body. It is important to realize that melanoma can begin in any part of the body that can contain a melanocyte. Melanoma is considered less common than other skin cancers. It is a cancer that can be very dangerous if not detected early. Although in most cases it is diagnosed in time and can be cured. Many people are diagnosed with this cancer and it is said that 160,000 cases are diagnosed a year. ( ). In men a common site is on their back and for a woman is on their legs.
Melanoma is a very serious type of skin cancer. The cancer starts in skin cells known melanocytes. Even though melanoma primarily affects skin cells, it also can grow in the eyes (uveal melanoma). Melanocytes are made up of melanin, which provides skin color and protects the deeper layers of the skin from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays.
Moles are harmless and in very rare cases they can lead to cancer. In fact, detecting pigment patches and monitoring moles can help detecting skin cancer, particularly malignant melanoma. They are usually round or oval shape that may be a birth mark which may be present at the time of birth. There may be cases when moles develop at the time of pregnancy and puberty.
Cancer is the term used to describe a group of diseases consisting of hundreds of ailments and although there exists so many different types of cancer, they all begin in a similar way. The body is made up of over a trillion cells, and cancer is the uncontrolled growth of malfunctioning cells in the body (Dawson, 1996). “Normal body cells grow, divide, and die in an orderly fashion. During the early years of a person’s life, normal cells divide faster to allow the person to grow. After the person becomes an adult, most cells divide only to replace worn-out or dying cells or to repair injuries” (American Cancer Society, 2012).
Basal and squamous cell skin cancer are the most common forms of skin cancer. Multiple studies have shown that these cancers are almost always connected to large amounts of sun exposure. This can come from things like outdoor sports, performing something outdoors with little coverage from clothing, and getting multiple severe sunburns. You can see signs of skin cancer inside and outside of your body. Rough, thick, dry skin patches are common symptoms, but things
Cancer starts when cells in a part of the body start to grow out of control. Cancer cell growth is different from normal cell growth. Instead of dying, cancer cells continue to grow and form new, abnormal cells. Cancer cells can also invade (grow into) other tissues, something that normal cells cannot do. Growing out of control and invading other tissues are what makes a cell a cancer cell. Cells become cancer cells because of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) damage. DNA is in every cell and it directs all the cell’s actions. In a normal cell, when DNA gets damaged the cell either repairs the damage or the cell dies. In cancer cells, the damaged DNA is not repaired, and the cell doesn’t die like it should. Instead, the cell goes on making new cells that the body doesn’t need. These new cells all have the same abnormal DNA as the first cell does.
Cancer is a very large issue in the world. Cancer is a sickness that can lead to many life threatening problems and can eventually lead to death. There are many different kinds of cancer that can effect a person without them even knowing it is there. One type of cancer that can be easier to detect would be skin cancer. Skin cancer can be diagnosed by seeing a doctor or dermatologist, if they see an abnormal mole or spot on your skin, they many ask to remove the spot and test it in their laboratory. If the spot or mole comes back positive for skin cancer, they next will run more tests to see if it has spread throughout the body. The first thing the doctor will ask you is the time frame from when you first started noticing this on your body,
To begin, cancer starts to form when abnormal cells grow. Abnormal cells form when the DNA, is damaged. The fewer the amount of abnormal cells, the more treatable the cancer will be. In normal cells, the damaged DNA either gets repaired, or dies. In cancer cells, the damaged DNA doesn’t get repaired or dies like normal cells. The damaged cell instead replicates itself. It is difficult to understand exactly why or how cancer starts to grow, but common reasons can be from sun exposure or cigarette smoking. Cancer cells usually form a tumor. A type of cancer where a tumor doesn’t form is Leukemia. On the other hand, not all tumors are cancerous. There are benign and malignant tumors or masses. Benign tumors cannot spread to other organs of the body, but can be on the larger side and press on other organs. Benign tumors are not cancerous, but can still instill problems. Benign tumors can become malignant, or cancerous, after a period of time. Malignant tumors are the ones that are cancerous from the very beginning. This ...
Cancer is a term used for diseases in which abnormal cells divide without control and begin to invade other tissues. The term cancer is also used when cells start to produce too quickly when there are not enough cells dying. Cancer cells are also called malignant cells. Cancerous cells are able to invade other healthy cells and can spread to other parts of the body through the blood and lymph systems.
Cancer Cancer is a disease in which cells grow out of control and invade, erode, and destroy normal tissue. Damaged genes cause this development of cancer. These damaged genes are often a factor caused by such things such as the environment, and can be influenced by inherited factors. As the very early damaged cells divide they can evolve into a malignant cell population, and lose the control mechanism that govern normal cell division. These malignant cells can then go on to form solid tumours that start to destroy normal tissue.
Skin cancer is a disease where cancer (malignant) cells are found on the outer layer of the skin (epidermis). The three types of cells found in the epidermis are squamous cells, basal cells, and melanocytes. These cells in time grow to be cancerous. Thus, the three types of skin cancers are squamous cell, basal cell, and melanoma. Melanoma is the most deadliest and destructive type of cancer. (“Skin Cancer” infotrac.com) The number of people with melanoma has risen in Scotland from 3.5 in 1979 to 10.6 per 100,000 in 1998 for men and 7.0 to 13.1 for women. (Miller 945) Squamous cell and Basal cell skin cancer can kill up to 2,200 people a year in the United States. (Sommerfield SIRS.com) Basal cell, being the most common type of skin cancer, is the cancer that about 75 percent of the people have. (“Skin Cancer “ infotrac.com) Melanoma is mostly seen in older men but ever since tanning came in during the 1970’s, it has increased in women 60 percent around the ages 15-29 over the past three decades.(Sommerfield SIRS.com) “And basal cell and squamous cell cancers are increasing at a rate of about 5 percent per year”(Sommerfield SIRS.com).
The first sign of melanoma is often a change in the size, shape, or color of an existing mole or the appearance of a new mole. Men most commonly develop melanoma on the trunk, particularly the back, and women on the legs or arms. Melanoma develops in a manner similar to other cancer types. A cell's DNA genes, which control cell division and reproduction, become damaged. The damaged genes cause the cell to divide and grow without control or order, eventually becoming a malignant tumor.