Cancer can appear in any organs of the human body. Tumors often appear in bone cells and skin on the hands. Intense pain and weight loss are considered one of the manifestations of such a disease. In this case, it does not matter which part of the arm or hand is affected. In the article, consider finger cancer.
What is a disease?
Cancer is a malignant tumor that initially affects cells or skin. It is thanks to this symptomatology that cancer can be diagnosed. From hair follicles, this disease develops as rarely as possible.
The skin is affected at the very first moment. If it’s finger cancer, then the bones can suffer. But in such cases, the tissues around them also suffer. Sometimes bone cancer can occur due to the fact that tumors in the lungs or other organs of the chest gave metastases.
Causes
The causes of cancer have not yet been fully determined. But doctors found that the risks of the appearance of tumors increase depending on frequent injuries, a hereditary factor, inflammatory processes in tissues, and exposure to ultraviolet radiation. Tumors can also occur due to problems with the immune system.
Finger cancer is most often a secondary disease. Often this part of the body is affected due to metastasis of other formations. Cancer can sometimes occur due to constant contact with chemicals.
Symptomatology
One of the main symptoms is persistent pain. With the occurrence of finger cancer, both the hand and all hands may hurt. The intensity depends on the loads.
If the tumor affects the bone, not the tissue, then body temperature may rise. Moreover, if a person makes an examination, it will become clear that this symptomatology is not an indicator of a catarrhal disease. The affected finger will constantly swell. Appetite will decrease, respectively, weight will begin to decrease. The patient will be constantly tired. At night, the entire arm can sweat profusely, even if the patient has cancer of the finger, not the entire limb. On palpation of the affected area, a seal will be felt. The skin in this place will change color.
How severe the symptoms are will depend on the stage of the disease. At first, when the tumor only appears, there will be no noticeable changes. As soon as the disease passes to the second studio, education will already interfere with the usual life. Since its size will be 8 cm in diameter. Already at this stage, finger cancer will begin to progress. Often already in this period metastases appear.
After the cancer reaches the third degree, already healthy tissues around the bone will begin to be affected. In severe cases, metastases cross distant organs. In the last stage, lung problems may occur.
If finger cancer is accompanied by skin lesions, edema will occur in the first place. In addition, the tumor process develops in such a way that calcium is gradually washed out of the body. This leads to persistent dizziness and nausea. Due to a lack of calcium, fractures can often occur in a patient.
In addition, with skin cancer on the finger, body temperature rises, weight decreases and lethargy appears. Dark spots may form on the arm. They can bleed.
Sometimes, against the background of blood cancer, new moles may appear. This is due to poor functioning of the immune system.
Skin cancer has 4 stages. At the very beginning, the formation on the finger does not exceed 2 cm in diameter. It is able to move from side to side. In the second stage, the tumor begins to metastasize, so pain can occur in other organs. Education increases to 4 cm. The third stage is accompanied by a change in the shape of the tumor. Lumps or flakes may appear on the skin. Cancer begins to affect the inner layers of the skin, so the formation becomes immobile.
The last stage of finger skin cancer is that the cartilage structure and bone are already affected. Constant pains appear.
Classification
Photos of finger cancer can be seen on specialized forums. But before you look for the right material, you should understand what kind of problem you are interested in. Cancer can be of various forms. For example, a disease that affects the bone is considered the most serious. Its name is osteogenic sarcoma. Such cancer occurs most often. It develops rapidly, unlike chondroma and chondrosacroma. They have a slow flow.
Malignant tumors that can occur on the skin of the finger are divided into melanoma, basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell disease. The first occurs due to the degeneration of cells that are responsible for the function of producing melanin. Melanomas are spots on the skin.
Basal cell carcinomas form in the inner layers of the skin. Plaques may appear on which the skin is peeling. In their center are ulcers.
Squamous cell disease is accompanied by ulcers in the affected area.
Osteogenic sarcoma
It occurs most often between the ages of 10 and 30 years. Most cases of this cancer occur in men. Toes suffer from this disease 6 times more often than on the hands.
In the initial stages, it is practically not noticeable. This is due to minimal pain. Already after the tumor begins to capture the tissues close to it, the symptoms will become stronger. The bone thickens visually. On palpation, there is severe pain. At night, the unpleasant sensations are so strong that it is difficult to remove them even with the help of analgesics. The disease progresses quickly, it affects not only the dermis, but also grows in the muscles, gives a lot of metastases that can enter the lungs, brain. They rarely get into other bones.
Melanoma
As already described above, it is a cancer that develops in the layers of the skin. Most often, melanoma appears from the nevus. The metastases that this formation causes are spread through the lymphatic vessels. Accordingly, the lymph nodes are the first to be affected. Over time, the liver, lungs, bones and brain suffer.
A person may experience itching of the affected part, a change in skin color, a change in the shape of a mole, bleeding, and the appearance of nodes.
Basalioma
Unlike melanoma, which occurs on the upper layer of the skin, basal cell injury affects the basal layer. Often occurs in the hair follicles, spreading further. May appear due to exposure to ultraviolet radiation or ions, carcinogens. Sex is unimportant, with regard to age, it most often occurs after 50 years. It is rare in children. On the finger, this disease develops extremely rarely.
Squamous cell carcinoma
This type of cancer also occurs on the skin. Manifestations are different, but most often one of the symptoms of the disease can be called wounds that cannot heal for a long time. Sometimes the tumor can become covered with scales, in some cases it becomes a node. In general, no matter how it looks in the initial stages, it always eventually turns into an ulcer and affects the nearby tissues. The prognosis is favorable, but only in those cases when treatment is started in the initial stages and correctly selected. It must be remembered that this type of cancer also metastasizes. It occurs on the fingers as often as the sarcoma. With the allocation of metastases, the overall survival up to 5 years is about 30%, regardless of whether treatment is carried out.
Diagnostics
It is important for the doctor to know the symptoms of finger cancer that occur in the patient. It is thanks to them that you can quickly diagnose the disease. If there is a suspicion of problems with the fingers, then first of all the doctor should conduct an examination. In addition, palpation of the entire limb and lymph nodes is performed. It is necessary to take a blood test to be sure that the formation is malignant.
If the finger bone is affected, then an x-ray and tomography are done. To finally confirm the diagnosis, a little material from the education is taken for its analysis and a histological examination is performed.
Treatment
In the images in the article, you can see the beginning of the development of finger cancer. Photos were taken at the first stages of the disease. It is at this time that you need to start treatment. Which method will be chosen depends entirely on the patient’s condition, his characteristics (age, general health, body weight), and the stage of the disease and its manifestations are also important.
Most often, at the very beginning, experts recommend taking cytostatics. That is, chemotherapy is performed. They are necessary in order to temporarily slow down the process of tumor development. The same drugs are prescribed for those patients who already have metastases in the nearest organs.
After the course of treatment with cytostatics is completed, an operation should be performed. Typically, by this time, the symptoms of finger cancer are either minimized or completely gone. During surgery, the affected area, the tumor itself and some healthy tissues are removed to reduce the risk of relapse. The specialist tries not to damage the muscles and tendons, which will allow you to use your finger in the future.
If the cancer has affected the bone, then it is completely removed. Thanks to the latest technology, you don’t have to completely remove your finger. An implant is installed instead of a bone. If possible, transplant healthy tissue from other parts of the body. The finger is removed only in the most advanced cases.
After the operation, radiation therapy is performed. This method has low efficiency, therefore, without surgery it is not used. Thanks to this type of therapy, it is possible to remove those affected cells that are not removed during surgery for any reason.
If the patient has melanoma, then cryosurgery is used. It provides for exposure to the affected area with low air temperatures, which leads to the fact that the tumor itself dies.
Complications
Be sure to pay attention to the photo of skin cancer on the finger. No one is safe from it, given that this part of the brush cannot be protected from ultraviolet radiation. Remember the fact: despite the fact that this disease may seem frivolous, since it is “just” a finger, a person will die without treatment. Of the less serious complications, one can name either the loss of sensitivity of this part of the body, or its amputation.
Forecast
Regardless of what type of cancer you have, on your leg (photo of the disease is in the article) or on the arm, with timely treatment, 90-95% of people live 5 years, some longer.
If the disease began to be treated in the second stage, this indicator decreases to half. If metastases are already present, then only 30% of people survive. If the disease is severely launched, then death occurs in 80% of cases.
Preventative measures
Unfortunately, there are no 100% measures that will completely protect against cancer. This is due to the fact that no reasons have been identified why cells regenerate and become dangerous to humans.
But you can still reduce the risks. Avoid traumatic situations, minimize sun exposure to the skin. If there are any signs, for example, a seal under the skin, then consult a doctor. Constant aching pain without visible signs is also an occasion to go to the hospital.
Skin cancer on the finger, the photo of which is presented in the article, is an extremely unpleasant disease, like all other types of problems. Therefore, do not waste time and contact specialists in time.