Sunday 27 November 2011

What Is Malignant Melanoma Skin Cancer?





What Is Malignant Melanoma Skin Cancer?

Malignant Melanoma Skin cancer is a type of skin cancer that starts in the pigmentation system of the skin. The skin layer that become tanned in the summer. This type of a cancer begins in moles or in different areas of normal looking skin. In rare cases, the tumor may start in the eyes, the intestine, the respiratory passage and the brain.
Malignant melanoma is a dangerous type of cancer. In this case, the chances of the survival of patient depend on early discovery and treatment.
The skin is responsible for protecting the body from several vices such as heat, infection, injury, sunlight and water loss. The outermost layer is known as the epidermis. It consists of flat scaly squamous cells. These cells contain a protein that makes the skin strong and also flexible. There are also basal cells and melanocytes that lie deeper inside the epidermis.

Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC)






Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC)

Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC) is the second most common form of skin cancer. It is affecting around 200,000 Americans each year. Though it is also labelled as a non-melanoma type skin cancer (alongside Basal Cell Carcinoma), it can turn nasty and become fatal as 1-2 percent of cases will metastasize.
Metastasis is a key criterion for malignancy. When the cancerous tumor manages to penetrate from the epidermis layer into the dermis layer of the skin, it could spread out very fast, to lymph nodes, blood vessels, and so to distant sites inside the body.