Non-melanoma skin cancer

Each type of skin cancer has its own manifestations, but all of them have in common the appearance of skin lesions that gradually grow.

• The basal cell carcinoma usually appears in an area of skin, chronically exposed to the sun, as an ulcerated lesion, pearl or simply as a change in skin color, without a history of previous premalignant lesion.
• In contrast, spinocellular carcinoma is usually presented, mostly as a scabby lesion on a reddish skin (actinic keratosis) and that, over time, growth and sometimes bleeding, can reveal a malignant transformation.
• In other cases, as in the mucous membranes and, in particular, in the lip mucous membrane, premalignant whitish plaques appear (leukoplakia), as a consequence of intense solar exposure in that area or a long-standing tobacco habit. When this type of tumor becomes a skin neoplasm, it is clinically characterized as an excruciating (bulging) tumor lesion, which can ulcerate and is often accompanied by bleeding.

Most of the cases appear in people over 30 years old and, mainly, in those with an important sun exposure, frequent burns and who present a clear skin that is difficult to pigment.

In short, reducing exposure to solar radiation and taking the necessary photoprotection measures are fundamental weapons in the decrease of the incidence of skin tumors in general. The aim of photoprotection is to prevent the damage that exposure to ultraviolet radiation causes to the skin.