April 23, 2024

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What are the causes of basal cell carcinoma?

What are the causes of basal cell carcinoma?



What are the causes of basal cell carcinoma?


According to reports, on January 11, US President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden took a helicopter from the White House to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to undergo skin cancer surgery for the first lady.


After more than eight hours of surgery, Mrs. Biden had some swelling and bruising on her face. The president’s physician, Kevin O’Connor, said the cancerous tissue had been completely removed.
Currently, Jill Biden has three cancerous lesions found on her skin.

In early January, following a routine skin cancer screening, doctors advised that the lesion above Mrs Biden’s right eye needed to be removed out of “an abundance of caution”.

Surgery on Wednesday removed a second lesion on her left eyelid and a third on the left side of her chest. Surgery on Wednesday morning confirmed that Jill Biden’s cancerous lesion was basal cell carcinoma. O’Connor recorded on January 11 that both skin lesions were basal cell carcinoma (BCC).



The surgery Mrs. Biden underwent was called Mohs surgery.

In Mohs surgery, the surgeon cuts through thin layers of skin until no signs of cancer are found.

Patients are usually discharged on the day of surgery.

It is reported that before Biden became the president of the United States, he also underwent Mohs surgery to remove several non-melanoma skin cancers.

In the 2021 presidential health report, Dr. O’Connor wrote that the president’s cancerous lesion had been removed.


Basal cell carcinoma is the most common type of skin cancer.

According to the Skin Cancer Foundation of America, 3.6 million Americans are diagnosed with the disease each year, making it the most common of all cancers.

Basal cell carcinoma grows slowly and patients can be cured with surgery. This cancer does very little harm if it is treated early.

Dr. O’Connor notes that basal cell carcinoma lesions “do not ‘spread’ or metastasize like some of the more serious skin cancers known as melanoma or squamous cell carcinoma.”



Basal cell carcinoma, also known as basal cell epithelioma, is the most common skin cancer. It is very easy to be ignored by patients in the early stage, and it is also one of the most easily missed diagnosis of skin malignancies.

Basal cell carcinoma is a malignant tumor that arises from the basal cells of the skin. It occurs best in middle-aged and elderly people, especially the face, forehead, cheeks and other places exposed to sunlight and ultraviolet rays. The course of basal cell carcinoma is slow. In the early stage, it manifests as round patches with bright surface and raised edges.

The surface is thin, and freckle-like small black spots are often seen. A few are accompanied by telangiectasia. It can also appear as light red lichenoid papules. Or accompanied by small and superficial erosions and scabs.

 

 


1. What are the causes of basal cell carcinoma?

 

  • Ultraviolet radiation: it is more likely to occur on exposed parts such as the scalp and face, and it is more common in outdoor workers and light-colored skin;
  • Ionizing radiation: occurs on the basis of chronic radiation dermatitis, long-term X-ray exposure;
  • Chemical carcinogens: long-term intake of inorganic arsenic or drinking water and food with high arsenic content;
  • Burn scars and other scars;
  • On the basis of certain hamartomas: such as sebaceous nevus, verrucous epidermal nevus, etc.

 

 

What are the causes of basal cell carcinoma?

 


2. Is basal cell carcinoma highly malignant?


The malignancy of basal cell carcinoma is low, the growth is slow, and the growth mode is mainly local infiltrating growth, the lesion is relatively limited, and lymphatic or visceral metastasis rarely occurs.

The cure rate of surgery is high, and the 5-year survival rate can reach more than 90%. Therefore, if you are diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma, you must adjust your attitude and actively treat it.

 


3. Can moles develop into basal cell carcinoma?


Moles have a certain chance of developing into basal cell carcinoma, but the possibility is very small.

There are indeed some clinical cases of basal cell carcinoma occurring on epidermal nevus.

If a mole is found to grow rapidly in a short period of time, or redness, swelling, pain, or even bleeding occurs, it is necessary to pay attention and seek medical treatment in time.

 

 


4. What tests should be done when basal cell carcinoma is suspected?


Basal cell carcinoma is a very common and slow-growing skin cancer, making it a very misdiagnosed skin cancer.

Basal cell carcinoma is often misdiagnosed as benign skin diseases such as pigmented moles, senile plaques (seborrheic keratosis), folliculitis, fibroids, and skin ulcers, which delays the timing of treatment.

Therefore, early diagnosis and early treatment of basal cell carcinoma are very important.


The diagnosis of basal cell carcinoma can rely on the following steps:

Find an experienced dermatologist to see a doctor, and the doctor will judge the specific situation of the rash. For patients with clinically suspected basal cell carcinoma, imaging examinations such as dermoscopy and skin high-frequency ultrasound can be used for preliminary screening.

Dermoscopy adds basal cell carcinoma screening. The accuracy of the test is 98.6% sensitive. Histopathological examination is the gold standard for diagnosing basal cell carcinoma .

Skin biopsy is very necessary for patients with high clinical and dermoscopic suspicion of basal cell carcinoma.

 

 


5. How to treat basal cell carcinoma?


Surgery is the treatment of choice for basal cell carcinoma and has a high cure rate. For basal cell carcinoma, “Mohs microtracing surgery” is usually used for resection , and the extent of tumor infiltration is determined by preoperative imaging examination, and then the modified Mohs operation is used to remove the tumor more thoroughly , and to protect normal tissues to the greatest extent, and the operation is cured The rate can reach 98%.

For patients unwilling or inoperable, radiotherapy is considered the second most effective treatment, and postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy can still achieve good results after radiotherapy or palliative resection.

In addition, there are photodynamic, freezing, laser and other treatment methods applied to the body surface, but the treatment effect is not as good as surgical resection, and the tumor may not be eradicated.

 

 


6. Is it easy to relapse after surgical resection?


The overall recurrence rate of basal cell carcinoma after surgery is not very high, only about 3.5%, and most of them occur within 2 years after surgery.

Therefore, regular follow-up is very important. It is generally recommended to review every six months within one year after surgery, and then every six months after surgery .

Review once a year. If recurrence occurs, surgery can be performed again, followed by radiotherapy after surgery.

 

 



7. What mental preparations should I make when seeing a doctor?


First of all, we must adjust our mentality. Malignant tumors are also preventable and curable. Basal cell carcinoma has a low degree of malignancy and is not prone to metastasis.

Early diagnosis and early treatment have a very high cure rate.

We must objectively and correctly understand the disease, avoid negative attitudes, and choose Formal medical institutions, with the inspection, active treatment.

 

 

What are the causes of basal cell carcinoma?

(source:internet, reference only)


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Important Note: The information provided is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as medical advice.