Skin cancer is a malignant growth on the skin which can have many causes. The most common skin cancers are basal cell cancer, squamous cell cancer, and melanoma. Skin cancer generally develops in the epidermis (the outermost layer of skin), so a tumor is usually clearly visible. This makes most skin cancers detectable in the early stages. There are three common types of skin cancer, each of which is named after the type of skin cell from which it arises.


What Causes Skin Cancer?

Sunburn and Sunlight
Very simply, sunburn and UV light can damage your skin, and this damage can lead to skin cancer. There are of course other determining factors, including your heredity and the environment you live in. However, both the total amount of sun received over the years, and overexposure resulting in sunburn can cause skin cancer. Most people receive 80% of their lifetime exposure to the sun by 18 years of age. The message to parents from this is to protect your children. Tanning is your skin's response to UV light. It is a protective reaction to prevent further injury to your skin from the sun. However, it does not prevent skin cancer. Remember, skin cancer is very slow to develop. The sunburn you receive this week may take 20 years or more to become skin cancer.

Heredity If there is a history of skin cancer in your family, you are probably at a higher risk. People with fair skin, with a northern European heritage appear to be most susceptible.

Environment The level of UV light today is higher than it was 50 or 100 years ago. This is due to a reduction of ozone in the earth's atmosphere (the Ozone Hole). Ozone serves as a filter to screen out and reduce the amount of UV light that we are exposed to. With less atmospheric ozone, a higher level of UV light reaches the earth's surface.

Signs and symptoms:
There are a variety of different skin cancer symptoms. These include crabs or changes in the skin that do not heal, ulcers in the skin, discoloration, and changes in existing moles.

• Basal cell carcinoma usually looks like a raised, smooth, pearly bump on the sun-exposed skin of the head, neck or shoulders. Sometimes small blood vessels can be seen within the tumor. Crusting and bleeding in the center of the tumor frequently develops. It is often mistaken for a sore that does not heal.
• Squamous cell carcinoma is commonly a red, scaling, thickened patch on sun-exposed skin. Ulceration and bleeding may occur. When SCC is not treated, it may develop into a large mass.
• Most melanomas are brown to black looking lesions. Signs that might indicate a malignant melanoma include change in size, shape, color or elevation of a mole. The appearance of a new mole during adulthood, or new pain, itching, ulceration or bleeding.

Reduction of risk: Although it is impossible to completely eliminate the possibility of skin cancer, the risk of developing such a cancer can be reduced significantly with the following steps:

• Reducing exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, especially in early years
• Avoiding sunburns (Recent studies have shown that sunscreen does not protect from melanoma.
• Avoiding sun exposure during the day (usually from 10 AM to 3 PM), when the sun is highest in the sky
• Wearing protective clothing (long sleeves and hats) when outdoors
• Using a broad-spectrum sunscreen that blocks both UVA and UVB radiation
• Use a sun block of about SPF 50
• Reapply sun block every 2 hours and after swimming
• Chemoprevention using topical imiquimod or 5-fluorouracil.

Although it is generally accepted that UV exposure is the greatest risk factor in melanoma development, some sceptics say no data conclusively proves a link between moderate sun exposure and the likelihood of melanoma. Australian scientist Ian Frazer who developed a vaccine for cervical cancer, says that a vaccine effective in preventing for certain types of skin cancer has proven effective on animals and could be available within a decade. The vaccine would only be effective against Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Treatment: Treatment is dependent on type of cancer, location of the cancer, age of the patient, and if the cancer is primary or recurrence.


Sources:
http://www.articlemonstrous.com/Article/cancerous-moles-signs-and-symptoms/47790
http://www.drugs-expert.com/health-conditions/cancer/skin-cancer/

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Definition:
Cervical cancer is cancer that starts in the cervix, the lower part of the uterus (womb) that opens at the top of the vagina.

Signs and symptoms:
The early stages of cervical cancer may be completely asymptomatic.Vaginal bleeding, contact bleeding or (rarely) a vaginal mass may indicate the presence of malignancy. Also, moderate pain during sexual intercourse and vaginal discharge are symptoms of cervical cancer. In advanced disease, metastases may be present in the abdomen, lungs or elsewhere.

Symptoms of advanced cervical cancer may include: loss of appetite, weight loss, fatigue, pelvic pain, back pain, leg pain, single swollen leg, heavy bleeding from the vagina, leaking of urine or feces from the vagina, and bone fractures.

Causes:
Worldwide, cervical cancer is the third most common type of cancer in women. It is much less common in the United States because of routine use of Pap smears.

The development of cervical cancer is very slow. It starts as a pre-cancerous condition called dysplasia. This pre-cancerous condition can be detected by a Pap smear and is 100% treatable. That is why it is so important for women to get regular Pap smears. Most women that are diagnosed with cervical cancer today have not had regular Pap smears or they have not followed up on abnormal results.

Undetected, pre-cancerous changes can develop into cervical cancer and spread to the bladder, intestines, lungs, and liver. It can take years for pre-cancerous changes to turn into cervical cancer. Patients with cervical cancer do not usually have problems until the cancer is advanced and has spread.

Almost all cervical cancers are caused by HPV (human papilloma virus). HPV is a common virus that is spread through sexual intercourse. There are many different types of HPV, and many do not cause problems. However, only certain strains of HPV actually lead to cervical cancer. (Other strains may cause genital warts.)

Other risk factors for cervical cancer include:

• Having sex at an early age.
• Multiple sexual partners.
• Sexual partners who have multiple partners or who participate in high-risk sexual activities.
• Women whose mothers took the drug DES (diethylstilbestrol) during pregnancy in the early 1970s to prevent miscarriage.
• Long-term use of birth control pills (more than 5 years).
• Weakened immune system.
• Infections with genital herpes or chronic chlamydia infections.
• Poor economic status (may not be able to afford regular Pap smears).

Treatment:
Treatment of cervical cancer depends on the stage of the cancer, the size and shape of the tumor, the age and general health of the woman, and her desire to have children in the future.

Early cervical cancer can be cured by removing or destroying the pre-cancerous or cancerous tissue. There are various surgical ways to do this without removing the uterus or damaging the cervix, so that a woman can still have children in the future.

Types of surgery for early cervical cancer include:

• LEEP (Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedure) - uses electricity to remove abnormal tissue.
• Cryotherapy - freezes abnormal cells.
• Laser therapy - uses light to burn abnormal tissue.

A hysterectomy (removal of the uterus but not the ovaries) is not often performed for cervical cancer that has not spread. It may be done in women who have repeated LEEP procedures. However, in more advanced disease, a radical hysterectomy may be performed. This type of hysterectomy removes the uterus and much of the surrounding tissues, including internal lymph nodes and upper part of the vagina. In the most extreme surgery, called a pelvic exenteration, all of the organs of the pelvis, including the bladder and rectum, are removed.

Radiation may be used to treat cancer that has spread beyond the pelvis, or cancer that has returned. Radiation therapy is either external or internal. Internal radiation therapy uses a device filled with radioactive material, which is placed inside the woman's vagina next to the cervical cancer. The device is removed when she goes home. External radiation therapy beams radiation from a large machine onto the body where the cancer is located. It is similar to an x-ray.

Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer. Some of the drugs used for chemotherapy for cervical cancer include 5-FU, Cisplatin, Carboplatin, Ifosfamide, Paclitaxel, and Cyclophosphamide. Sometimes radiation and chemotherapy are used before or after surgery.

Sources:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000893.htm
http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/cervical-cancer/overview.html

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What Is Breast Cancer?
Breast cancer is an uncontrolled growth of breast cells.Cancer occurs as a result of mutations, or abnormal changes, in the genes responsible for regulating the growth of cells and keeping them healthy. The genes are in each cell’s nucleus, which acts as the “control room” of each cell. Normally, the cells in our bodies replace themselves through an orderly process of cell growth: healthy new cells take over as old ones die out. But over time, mutations can “turn on” certain genes and “turn off” others in a cell. That changed cell gains the ability to keep dividing without control or order, producing more cells just like it and forming a tumor.

A tumor can be benign (not dangerous to health) or malignant (has the potential to be dangerous). Benign tumors are not considered cancerous: their cells are close to normal in appearance, they grow slowly, and they do not invade nearby tissues or spread to other parts of the body. Malignant tumors are cancerous. Left unchecked, malignant cells eventually can spread beyond the original tumor to other parts of the body.

The term “breast cancer” refers to a malignant tumor that has developed from cells in the breast.

Symptoms of Breast Cancer:
The first symptom, or subjective sign, of breast cancer is typically a lump that feels different than the surrounding breast tissue. A lump that is painless, hard, and has uneven edges is more likely to be cancer. But sometimes cancers can be tender, soft, and rounded. So it's important to have anything unusual checked by your doctor.

• Swelling of all or part of the breast.
• Skin irritation or dimpling.
• Breast pain.
• Nipple pain or the nipple turning inward.
• Redness, scaliness, or thickening of the nipple or breast skin.
• A nipple discharge other than breast milk.
• A lump in the underarm area.

These changes also can be signs of less serious conditions that are not cancerous, such as an infection or a cyst. It’s important to get any breast changes checked out promptly by a doctor.

Treatment & Side Effects:
The mainstay of breast cancer treatment is surgery when the tumor is localized, with possible adjuvant hormonal therapy (with tamoxifen or an aromatase inhibitor), chemotherapy, and/or radiotherapy. At present, the treatment recommendations after surgery (adjuvant therapy) follow a pattern. This pattern is subject to change, as every two years, a worldwide conference takes place in St. Gallen, Switzerland, to discuss the actual results of worldwide multi-center studies. Depending on clinical criteria (age, type of cancer, size, metastasis) patients are roughly divided to high risk and low risk cases, with each risk category following different rules for therapy. Treatment possibilities include radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and immune therapy.

Sources:
http://www.breastcancer.org/
http://www.wikidoc.org/index.php/Breast_cancer
http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/BreastCancer/OverviewGuide/breast-cancer-overview-diagnosed
http://www.everydayhealth.com/breast-cancer/understanding/warning-signs.aspx

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