Jacquelyn H.
Topic: Skin Cancer
Essential Question: What is the best way to treat skin cancer?

Friday, March 16, 2012

Research Check #13

Etiological Factors in Skin Cancers:
Environmental and Biological
(Chapter 5)

Jacquelyn Huynh Vu
March 16, 2012

1. The cause of the vast majortity of basal cell cancer, squamous cell cancer and melanoma is exposure to UV.

Skin cancer has to do with multiple factors
Endogeneous (e.g. genes)
Exogenous (e.g. Ultraviolet Radiation)

The interaction between these factors is complex and they usually act synergistically in the multistage process of Carcinogenesis:
Tumor initiation
Promotion
Premalignant progression
Malignant conversion of normal skin cells into skin cancers

Research focuses on squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), since only that skin cancer can be reliably reproduced in animal models.


2.  Development of skin cancer
  • Genes vs.  UV, ionizing, viruses, chemicals, dyes, arsenic and more (Endogenous vs. Exogenous)

3.  Stages of Carcinogensis
  • Initation: damage is caused
  • Promotion: expansion or copy of cells
  • Premalignant conversion: more instability, some obvious skin damage seen
  • Malignant progression: skin cancer
4. Ultraviolet radiation

What it is?
How does it effect the skin?
UVA, UVB, UVC, Visible and Infra-red
UVA is most important because most of the UV reaching your skin is UVA
People living closer to the equator are exposed more (2.4 fold higher incidents)
People immigrating from Australia (who live there at a young age) have had higher incidents of skin cancer

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