My Cancer Research
My Choice of Cancer to Research: Skin Cancer
I chose to do my research on skin cancer as it is one of the most common cancers in the world. In America, one in every 5 Americans develop skin cancer (South Caroline Department of Public Health). That means approximately 9,500 Americans are diagnosed with skin cancer every single day! With so many diagnoses, there also comes many deaths, which is why I think more light needs to be shone on this matter. To understand more about skin cancer, we must know how it’s identified. Doctors have many tools that help them perform biopsies on patients, which allows for the diagnosis of skin cancer. There are also other imaging tests that can be used to figure out whether a patient has skin cancer too. Now that we know how to identify it, how does it start? Skin cancer is typically started because of damage from UV light, which comes from the Sun. This light causes damage to skin cells, which in turn causes skin cancer. Continuing, skin cancer has five different stages. Stage zero entails that the cancer cells are only on the surface of the skin, which makes treatment rather easy. Each following phase entails that the cancer cells are deeper and deeper into the skin, until stage four, which states that the cancer cells have spread to other organs around the body. Luckily, there is treatment for skin cancer, with surgery being an option along with radiation therapy and chemotherapy. These treatments damage the cancer cells and prevents them from spreading and dividing. With these treatments, patients still typically have a lot more life to live as it has been observed that 98% of patients who have skin cancer still end up living for more than 5 years, and 85% of patients living for more than 10 years (Cancer Research UK). In conclusion, skin cancer is an extreme problem that people should be aware about, but it shouldn’t be something that should be completely feared as modern day technology will only make it easier to attack these cancer cells.
An Image Showing Where Skin Cancer Develops:
Credit: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/basal-cell-carcinoma/symptoms-causes/syc-20354187