Skin cancer is a type of cancer that develops on the epidermis. Tumors can be benign, pre-malignant, or malignant. Only malignant tumors are cancerous and can spread to other parts of the body. Treatment is effective if detected early. Lipomas are often mistaken for skin cancer but are not cancerous.
A skin cancer is a type of cancer that develops on the epidermis. Cancers, including skin cancers, are groups of abnormal cells that grow, called neoplasms. People often associate skin cancer with cancer, but in reality, tumors don’t have to be cancerous, and the vast majority are not. Tumors are generally classified into three different groups: benign, pre-malignant and malignant. Only malignant tumors are actually cancerous.
The different terms used can be confusing, but they are essentially higher levels of specificity. A neoplasm is a group of abnormal cells, but these abnormal cells do not necessarily form a lump. When a tumor forms a lump it is called a tumor. If that tumor forms on the epidermis, it is known as skin cancer. If the skin cancer that forms is malignant, meaning that it grows uncontrollably, invades nearby tissue, and can even spread to other parts of the body, then it is known as skin cancer.
A benign skin tumor will never develop into skin cancer and therefore is of no concern other than perhaps cosmetic. Moles on the skin are a good example of this type of skin cancer, and while many people have them removed because they find them unsightly, only a few moles are cancerous. Uterine fibroids are another good example of a benign skin tumor. Some other forms of benign skin cancer include seborrheic keratoses, which look like small lesions attached to the skin, acrochordons, more commonly known as skin tags, epidermoid or sebaceous cysts, which are round, keratin-coated skin cysts, and dermatofibroma, which are small nodules that form on the skin as a circular inflamed area.
Premalignant skin tumors are not yet cancerous because they do not invade surrounding tissue. They are not, however, benign, because over time they will become malignant and demonstrate the same destructive properties that cancerous cells have. A common form of premalignant cancer is carcinoma in situ, in which the cells are neoplastic and continue to multiply, but do not leave their confined space.
The most commonly thought of as a type of skin cancer is cancerous skin cancer, as these are the most dangerous. Malignant skin tumors, if left alone, will likely spread throughout the body, metastasize and eventually kill the host. Malignant skin tumors are treated with a range of treatments to try and destroy them, including chemotherapy, invasive surgery and radiation therapy. Skin cancers often spread to surrounding lymph nodes first, and in this case, those lymph nodes also need to be removed. As long as skin malignancies are detected early, treatment is usually quite effective and not overly invasive or destructive.
Some things are seen and treated like skin cancer, when they are not, strictly speaking, skin cancer. The lipoma is an excellent example of this, as the subcutaneous tissue, made up of adipocytes, creates a hard nodule which can create an unsightly swelling of the skin itself. Lipomas are usually extracted via minor surgery, resulting in little or no scarring.
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