The Symptoms Of Skin Cancer

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Sitting in the waiting room of the dermatologist’s office, all that I could think about was if the cancer was benign or malignant. The nurse in the office called my name and instantly, my heart started palpitating and my palms started to sweat. I walked towards the private rooms staring blankly at the floor the entire time. The first sight of the doctor’s wide smile made me anxious for the results. “Benign,” he said. I instantly jumped in the air and thanked my God that I didn’t have a malignant cancer in my skin. The lab tests were conducted because in a routine acne checkup, the dermatologist noticed a dark spot on my left shoulder. I had noticed the spot for a long time and thought that it was just a normal birthmark. But as soon as the …show more content…
Cancer by definition is, the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the body. According to Amanda Chan, a writer for NBCNews on Cancer, the rundown of the ten deadliest cancers from the highest number of cases to lowest number of cases are; lung cancer, colon and rectal cancer, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, leukemia, non-Hodgkin cancer, liver cancer, ovarian cancer, and esophageal cancer. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) stated that these ten cancers killed the most people between 2003 and 2007. These results reflect only the most dangerous types of cancer. But some cancers that are classified as the least lethal cancers are the most common, for example, skin cancer, the type that was recently diagnosed from the small “birthmark” the dermatologist sent in for biopsy. Did you know that “Each year in the US, nearly 5 million people are treated for skin cancer” (Guy)? That’s a large number of people every single year. Although five million of the 316 million American population get skin cancer yearly, the causes of skin cancer can be a plethora of things. According to unitypoint.org, only five to ten percent of all cancer cases are due to genetic defects. The remaining ninety to ninety-five percent are due to environment and lifestyle factors. Since the largest …show more content…
Unitypoint.org listed a couple of daily lifestyle factors that increase the risk of developing cancer; smoking, poor nutrition, heavy alcohol use, obesity, low activity levels, and exposure to pollutants like food additives and pesticides. Also listed were things that you can do to decrease the risk of developing cancer; receive preventative screenings, perform self-examinations regularly, decrease exposure to environmental pollution, increase activity levels, maintain a healthy diet, receive vaccinations for infection-caused cancers, such as cervical cancer, decrease consumption of processed foods, and stop the use of tobacco products. Although there is an array of good and bad lifestyle factors that could either increase of decrease our chances of acquiring cancer, no person is exempt the possibility of getting cancer. If you are one of the people who are plagued with cancer, there are levels of severity and different approaches to the treatment of your cancer. Cancer.org listed all of the currently known and used methods of treating cancer afflicted cells; surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, hyperthermia, stem cell transplant, photodynamic therapy, laser treatment, and blood product donation and transfusion. Some of these terms may sound too intricate to

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