Skin cancer ( Health Professional Practice 1) - Article Example

Article-1: De Launey, J. (1996). The sun and the skin cancer. Current therapeutics, 30- 39. The article by De Launey (1996) provides and over view of the role of sun in the development of skin cancer. According to De Launey (1996), all forms of skin cancers are becoming significant causes of morbidity among human beings. There are basically 2 types of skin cancers and they are melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers. Non-melanoma skin cancers include Bowen's disease,actinic keratosis, squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma and keratoacanthoma.

The author opines that the incidence of malignant melanoma is doubling every year and that even non-melanoma cancers are on rise and hence general practitioners must be aware of these types of cancer so that early recognition and prompt treatment is possible. According to the author, significant risks for malignant melanoma are sudden burning exposures especially in the first two decades of life. Thus, prevention of skin cancer is possible only through recognition of significant risk factors which include non-black skins and those living in areas of high sunlight exposure.

prevention is mainly by limiting the number of hours of outdoor exposure and by wearing sun protective clothing and broad spectrum sunscreens 15 plus with skin protection factor containing UVA and UVB blockers. Along with these salient features, the author also describes individual types of cancer and their histopathological features. He also discussed clinical presentation, prognosis and treatment strategies. I strongly recommend that general practitioners and other health professionals must be aware of the types of skin cancers described in this article and various preventive measures that can be applied with assertion.

Since protective factors are very essential during the first 2 decades of life, pediatricians must educate the parents of their patients about risks associated with sun exposure and strategies to prevent them. Article-2: De Hertog, S.A.E., Wensveen, C. A.H., Bastiens, M.T., et al. (2001). Relation Between Smoking and Skin Cancer. J Clin Oncol., 19, 231-238. The main purpose of study by De Hertog et al (2001) is to investigate, ascertain and evaluate the risk of skin cancer in those who are exposed to tobacco smoking.

This study is in the wake of unknown risk estimates of cancer with tobacco smoking. The study is a hospital based case-control study in which patients with different types of skin cancers were put in the study group and those without cancer in the control group. Personal interviews were done and information about smoking history was collected. Based on relative risk estimation, it was evident that there does exist an association between smoking and squamous cell carcinoma and the risk was higher among current smokers.

A dose-response relationship was found between the number of cigarettes or pipes smoked. Other forms of skin cancer were not associated with smoking. The authors concluded that smoking is an independent risk factor for cutaneous squamous cell cancer. The authors discussed that smoke is a skin carcinogen and can affect the skin either locally or systemically. It contains several classes of compounds with demonstrated carcinogenic or cocarcinogenic activity, including nitrosamines, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, aromatic amines, unsaturated aldehydes, and phenolic compounds.

these can cause genetic mutations and contribute to development of cancer. in my opinion, this study provides