What Causes Skin Cancer?

What Causes Skin Cancer - 6 Top Factors

No one really knows what causes skin cancer. There are numerous theories as to why certain people develop it and others do not. The sun is a clear suspect in developing malignant melanoma and exposure to the effects of severe sunburn in infancy is just one of the reasons why many researchers believe melanoma can develop later in life.

My research has led me to believe there are 6 main causes of skin cancer, some may be seen to be preventable and some may not.

1. Ultraviolet Radiation - When it comes to researching what causes skin cancer, the most common culprit for malignant melanoma seems to be ultraviolet radiation. Over exposure to UVR damages skin cells and causes them to mutate and alter forming a tumor. There are two types of radiation from sunlight - UVA and UVB. UVA does not cause sunburn as such, but does cause irreversible damage to skin. It penetrates deepy into the skin layers, damaging the collagen and elastin that keeps skin taut and supple. It is directly responsible for skin aging and premature wrinkling and is now believed to be an initiator to skin cancer. UVB only penetrates the outer layer of the skin but has the ability to cause severe sunburn. In young children, such exposure to the sun significantly increases the risk of malignant melanoma later in life.

2. Dysplastic Nevus - A dysplastic nevus is a mole that is currently non cancerous, yet has the characteristics of a melanoma. It will be larger in size, may have an uneven border and may be raised or multi-pigmented. Alternatively known as an atypical nevus (meaning 'not normal'), these types of moles mainly appear to be hereditary and put the patient at a much higher risk of developing melanoma, especially if there are many of them on the body. People exhibiting over 100 atypical moles are said to be suffering from Atypical Mole Syndrome, which puts them at even further risk of one of them becoming malignant.

3. Heredity - Is skin cancer hereditary? It isn't as such, however, it is your genetically inherited skin type that can determine if you are likely to develop a melanoma. If you are fair skinned and have skin which burns easily, are of Anglo/Irish decent and have freckles and light eyes, you are at higher risk of developing skin cancer. If you have previously had a melanoma, you have a higher chance of developing another and if a close relative has suffered it, you should make sure you have your skin checked for changes as you may also be at risk.

4. Tanning Beds - When asked, what causes skin cancer, The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) confirmed that any form of UV tanning is definetely carcinogenic to humans and believes it is as serious as cigarette smoke or asbestos. Radiation from artificial tanning sources (tanning beds) emitts mainly UVA rays which penetrate deeply into the skin layers. This damages the skin cells causing them to change abnormally which risks a tumor growing.

   High powered tubes in tanning beds transmit radiation that is far more intense than that of ordinary sunlight. Just one high powered session as an adolescent can increase the risk of developing skin cancer later on by 75% according to the International Agency for Research in Cancer or IARC. If a young adult has many moles on their body (atypical mole syndrome), there is a huge risk of the cells inside these moles becoming damaged from such high powered, intermittent bursts of radiation. This could be one of the most serious factors for what causes skin cancer.

5. Thermal Burns - Very rarely, skin cancer can develop from within a burn scar. Although the skin cancer acquired here is more commonly squamous cell carcinoma, a small minority of burns can develop a malignant melanoma in the damaged tissue. There is little documentation available for me to thoroughly research this subject, but it is of particular interest as it is how my mother developed a melanoma on her forearm. She had a small oven burn which healed, then after a time became pigmented (and small freckles appeared around the site), raised and ulerated. When it was removed it was diagosed as malignant with a thickness of 2.2mm.

6. Immune Suppression - Individuals who have undergone organ transplant and are receiving anti-rejection medication are at higher risk of developing skin cancer. Again, the skin cancer they may acquire is normally squamous or basal cell carcinoma, but occasionally it can result in a malignant melanoma forming anywhereon the body. It is due to the immune system being unable to defend and rebuild damaged cells which then go on to develop into a skin tumor. However, it does mean that the body will not reject the new organ. In HIV/AIDS patients, there is a 30% increase in risk of developing melanoma according to AIDS, (AIDS 23: 385-393, 2008) resulting again, from immune suppression.

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