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The main identifying features of white skin cancer
- Especially at the beginning, light skin cancer only shows up as slight reddening, cornification or scaling.
- White skin cancer is often easier to feel than to see: when you run your finger over it, you can feel a bump in the skin and the spot feels strange.
- The skin that is often exposed to the sun, such as the forehead, nose, ears and backs of the hands, is particularly at risk .
Interview with dermatologist Prof. Volker Steinkraus
Tolfioow: Skin cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in Germany. From the black we know that too much sun encourages its formation. Does this also apply to white or light skin cancer, the so-called basal cell carcinoma?
Prof. Steinkraus: Yes, both arise in the epidermis, and the sun promotes their formation. However, in different ways. And the white one is called semi-malignant (semi-cancerous) because it usually does not form metastases. Black skin cancer is particularly common among those who sit at their desks and where the sun hits unprepared skin on a short vacation. Stressed skin reacts with a tan, and this is exactly where black skin cancer develops – in the pigment cells.
And who has a high risk of developing light skin cancer?
People who are often exposed to the sun, such as gardeners or tennis coaches. In both cases, light-skinned people with blue eyes are particularly at risk. But in general, the more often someone has been in the sun, the higher the risk. The sum makes it. From a medical point of view, there is no such thing as a healthy tan. Regardless of whether it was acquired in the short term or slowly. And: The white cancer is much more common than the black cancer. If you add the precursors of white skin cancerIn addition, the so-called actinic keratoses, about 500,000 people develop white skin cancer and about 25,000 black skin cancer every year. A new study says the damage from tanning beds is even worse than feared. Yes, although this applies in particular to black skin cancer.
Enough bad news. Can you calm us down a bit too?
On the contrary, I want to get you to go regularly for skin cancer screening. But then I can really reassure you, because this skin cancer screening is simple and effective: once undress, and a dermatologist will recognize the skin cancer, because it is visible. Since 2008, health insurance companies have paid for the examination every two years from the age of 35. Be sure to do this skin check. When detected early, light skin cancer is almost 100 percent curable.
