Spring and summer months offer many nice outdoor activities for you, your family and friends. At the Cancer Society of Greenville County,we want to do all that we can to provide information on cancer awareness and prevention for you and your loved ones.
The three major types of skin cancers are: basal cell (non-melanoma), squamous cell (non-melanoma), and malignant melanoma. Basal cell, the most common kind of skin cancer, is slow growing and usually begins as a small shiny, pearly bump on the head, neck, legs or hands. However, these cancers can appear anywhere on the skin. The cancers grow slowly and rarely spread (metastasize) on to other parts of the body but may keep growing and destroy deeper tissue. Squamous cell cancer may begin as a red patch or bump on the lips, face, neck, ears or hands. This cancer is more likely to invade tissues beneath the skin and spread to other body parts. Malignant melanoma, the last common form of skin cancer, is the most serious. This may start in or near a mole and continue to grow. Malignant melanoma is known to have irregular colors with different shades of brown or black and sometimes includes patches of red, white or blue. One half of the mole or spot does not match the other half and the diameter is bigger than a pencil eraser. Any of these symptoms should be reported to your physician. If detected and treated before it spreads too far, melanoma can be curable.
The American Cancer Society recommends a cancer-related check-up, including skin examination every three years between the ages of 20-40 and annually for those 40 and older.
Skin cancer, while largely preventable, is the most common form of cancer in the
United States. The skin's job is to protect the body from infection, injury, heat and light and is the largest organ of the body. We must protect our skin from injury by limiting exposure to the harmful rays of the sun by wearing hats and clothing to protect our skin, using sunscreen appropriately, and limiting direct sun exposure from 10 am to 4 pm. Apply sunscreen with a Sun Protective Factor (SPF) rating of 15 or higher. Be sure to apply sunscreen an hour before going into the sun and again after swimming or perspiring and reapply every two hours even on cloudy days.
Exposure to UV radiation from tanning booths can damage the skin over time making it more susceptible to skin cancer and wrinkling. As an alternative consider a sunless self-tanning product but be sure to continue using sunscreen with these products.
Also remember to use sunglasses to reduce the incidence of certain cataracts and eye damage from UV radiation.
