What is skin cancer?

I thought it important that I use my blog to spread some information about skin cancer, early detection, and treatment options available.  I will start with the obvious, Actinic Keratosis and Basal Cell Carcinoma.

Actinic Keratosis is the most common form of "pre cancer". They appear on sun exposed skin and show up as red spots, rough in texture, show up primarily on the face, bald scalp, lips, and the back of hands.  They will appear elevated and be rough in texture.  Left untreated, AK's can advance to be squamous cell carcinoma.  Most recent estimates have the number of Americans with Actinic Keratosis at 58 million. For more specific information visit this site:  Actinic Keratosis.  

Basal Cell Carcinoma: BCCs are the most common form of skin cancer and can appear as open

sores, red patches, scars, pink growths, or shiny spots.  While not common, in rare instances BCC 

can spread and become life threatening.  There are an estimated 2.8 million people diagnosed

with BCC every year.  More than 1 out of every 3 new cancers is a skin cancer and the vast

majority of those cases are BCC.  Get more information on risk, treatment, and prevention 

at this site:  BCC. 

One of my goals this year is to take my message of skin cancer prevention and awareness to the

high schools in my area.  As a high school kid myself growing up on a farm and marching in band 

I wasted no time every summer getting that "base tan"...which in most cases was a severe burn. 

If I can get just one teen to think about how much time they spend in the sun or a tanning bed it
will be a WIN!!!

Tomorrow, SCC and melanoma information.