Tips for the early detection of skin cancer

We hold a sad record: after Australia and Switzerland, Germany is the country where women are most likely to get skin cancer. Around 15,000 Germans are now diagnosed each year, three times more than 20 years ago, almost 60 percent of them are women.

It would not be so difficult to protect yourself from melanoma, the "black cancer": In the noon time do not go into the blazing sun, always apply effective sunscreen, show as little naked skin and make a great bow to tanning salons. Even on cloudy days you should not go too carefree outside: In some cloud forms, as Kiel researchers have just found, the UV radiation may even be more intense than cloudless times. Although sunscreen does not prevent every melanoma, it reduces the risk enormously.

Equally important, however, is not only to wash and cream your own skin, but also to watch carefully. Anyone who keeps an eye on existing liver spots and looks for new ones has a good chance of discovering precancerous lesions that can be cured.



Not everyone is aware of the precaution for skin cancer

Also, the screening of the skin at the family doctor or dermatologist, which pays the health insurance every two years for over 35-year-old, should be perceived. Unfortunately, some doctors do not take the investigation too hard. So it happens again and again that patients do not even have to take off their clothes. Some doctors find this for about 21 euros fee too expensive.

It explicitly requires the exact inspection of the entire body, including the scalp, toe spaces and soles. After all, skin cancer can also occur on body parts that never get sun. Anyone who has the feeling that the doctor does not look closely enough should therefore calmly address him or show him specific spots. In any case, the examination may only be carried out in specially qualified practices (detailed information and addresses at www.hautkrebs-screening.de).



Nevertheless, it can not hurt to keep an eye on your skin. If a stain looks suspicious, an examination with a so-called reflected-light microscope can often give the dermatologist an all-clear. With this special examination, the pigment distribution in the stain can be assessed more precisely. But you often have to pay them out of pocket.

If a suspicion remains, the liver spot must be removed. To do this, the doctor cuts a two-millimeter-wide edge away from the healthy skin for safety. Often the result is cosmetically better when a plastic surgeon makes the procedure and not the family doctor. The removed piece of skin is then examined by a pathologist histologically, ie, histologically.

If malignant cells are detectable, a safety margin of one centimeter is cut out again for tumors up to two millimeters thick. If the tumor is thicker, a two-centimeter wide margin is needed. Because of the risk that the cancer cells have already spread, it is not the diameter of the tumor that is decisive for skin cancer, but its depth of penetration.



Better prevent and recognize early

To determine if cancer cells have already spread, doctors today remove the sentinel lymph node for all tumors thicker than a millimeter. This is the first node through which lymph flows out of the tumor. If he has no cancer cells, that's a good sign: healing is possible. However, if the examination reveals tumor cells, the other potentially affected lymph nodes must also be removed in order to improve the chances of recovery.

If a melanoma can not be operated on or completely removed, it can be irradiated. On chemotherapies, these skin tumors react badly. Recently, however, research has been carried out on new substances that are supposed to strengthen the body's immune system against cancer (so-called TLR9 agonists and CTLA4 inhibitors). There are already studies in which patients can participate. If you are interested, you should seek advice in a university skin clinic. Experts have high hopes for this new form of immunotherapy. Nevertheless, skin cancer continues to be: better prevention and early detection than treatment.

Suspected cancer!

Urgent visit a dermatologist, if ...

  • a dark spot is asymmetric or has an irregular edge,
  • the spot has a diameter of more than five millimeters,
  • the spot has darker and lighter or bumpy parts,
  • Forms a kind of wound that wets or bleeds
  • the stain grows larger or changes significantly in shape or color.

More information at www.krebsgesellschaft.de.According to the quality requirements of the German Cancer Society, the University Dermatological Clinic in Heidelberg was recently the first German skin cancer center to be certified (www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/Hautklinik.106577.0.html).

Skin Cancer Prevention & Detection (March 2024).



Skin cancer, early detection, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, skin cancer, early detection, melanoma, birthmark, liver stain, precaution