One of the favorite locations for skin cancer is the face. This is due to the abundant network of blood vessels, the direct effect of insolation, which is a favorable condition for malignant growth. Any signs of facial skin cancer of the initial stage, the photos of which are below, require detailed study for an early diagnosis, on which the patient's life will depend.
This pathology is more common than others, since this area of the skin is most exposed to sunlight, because it is it that is almost constantly open at any time of the year. Also, chemicals, dirt, dust, soot, harmful atmospheric gases settle on the skin of the face. People living in hot areas and neglecting to wear hats are more susceptible to skin cancer. Also, avoiding the use of sunscreens can contribute to skin cancer.
Let's try to figure out what skin cancer on the face looks like and how to deal with it.
Causes
One of the causes of facial skin cancer can be congenital pathologies, which also weaken the body's immune system, and the fight against viruses becomes less effective.
One of such factors is fair skin: in the epidermis (the outer layer of the skin) of white people contains less pigment (melanin), which significantly reduces the protection of the skin from ultraviolet radiation.
The presence of a large number of sunburns increases the likelihood of skin cancer. Most people with a huge number of nevuses (birthmarks) are more likely to get skin cancer. The risk of cancer can be inherited from direct relatives.
The likelihood of getting face skin cancer is higher in smokers with a rather greater experience and those taking drugs that weaken the body's immune system, in the elderly, as well as those who suffer from Bowen's disease and other skin diseases, in people with Keir erythroplasia.
Symptoms
There are two types of signs of skin cancer on the face (photo above) - early and late. In order to consult a specialist in time, it is better to know both of them.
Early symptoms
The early symptoms of facial skin cancer in women and men include:
- Facial education that did not exist before. It can be new moles, spots of a reddish tint or some irritated areas of the skin that do not heal for a long time. Existing moles behave in an unusual way - they change their color, become inflamed, secrete a mother of grass.
- The appearance of nodes on the skin. As a rule, such nodes can have different colors - black, white, red, purple.
- Loss of pigmentation in certain areas of the face.
- The appearance of a tumor, even small.
Late symptoms
Late symptoms of facial skin cancer (photo attached to the article):
- Change in the size of age spots (moles, nevus). As a rule, changes are observed within a few months.
- A mole that has always been smooth has become asymmetrical. The contours of the mole lose their sharpness and look blurry.
- Change in the surface of a mole. The stain brings discomfort - itches, tingles.
- In addition to the above symptoms, flat skin lesions with a scaly surface and a dense crust may appear. There is a risk that such a lesion is malignant.
Common symptoms
There are general symptoms that may indicate that something is going wrong in the body. It:
- Constant fatigue.
- Periodic jumps in body temperature.
- Weight loss.
- Decreased appetite.
- It is important to always monitor your body, and especially the formations on the skin and their changes, because they can pose a great threat to life.
If at least one symptom of the above is observed, it is recommended to consult a doctor immediately and undergo a thorough examination. Perhaps there is nothing to worry about, but it is better to verify this with a specialist.
Diagnostics
Diagnosis should be started immediately after detecting growth on the skin of the face. First of all, a visual examination of a specialist is required. At present, dermatoscopy has become widespread (examination of the skin of the face with the help of a magnifying device - a dermatoscope). This is a fairly simple technique that carries great diagnostic value in the early diagnosis.
Signs that may indicate malignant growth, according to the results of dermatoscopy:
- Asymmetry of education.
- Uneven coloring (alternation of dark and light areas).
- Hyperemia of the skin (the presence of minimal inflammatory changes).
- Rough (bumpy) surface of the formation.
There are various types of dermatoscopy:
- Routine dermatoscopy (using a magnifying device) - real-time examination.
- Photodermatoscopy (digital, electronic dermatoscopy), which allows you to take a picture and further observe in the dynamics the progress or regression of malignant growth.
- Computer dermatoscopy (using a video dermatoscope).
The next step in the diagnosis is to conduct a cytological study (studying the cellular composition of the formation to determine the degree of atypia): cell samples from the surface of the tumor are obtained using a smear imprint.
The histological examination, which everyone is so afraid of, just allows you to determine whether it is malignant or benign growth. It is carried out by taking a biopsy from the site with the further manufacture of slices.
Biochemical examination methods: determination of tumor markers.
Instrumental diagnostics: to exclude or confirm metastatic lesions of other organs.
Remember! Self-examination is a guarantee of early detection of atypical growth. Every month, in front of the mirror, inspect the skin of the face and other areas, thereby you can protect yourself.
Stage skin cancer
Oncological diseases, including epidermal cancer, develop in several stages, which are combined in the stage of the pathological process. In total, there are five of them:
- 0 - the initial stage, facial skin cancer (this is also visible in the photo) is manifested by the appearance of subcutaneous formations, which are more like acne or wen. They are painful on palpation. Small in diameter, up to 0.5 cm, and do not cause significant inconvenience.
- 1 - characterized by the formation of small papillomas with a diameter of not more than 2 cm. The tumor is mobile, not metastasized, but manages to affect the deeper layers of the skin. Timely therapeutic effect at this stage leads to a 100% favorable outcome.
- 2 - tumor-like processes become larger and reach a volume of 4 cm. Metastasis at this stage of the disease is a rarity. Nevertheless, doctors can detect some elements - the harbingers of the root strengthening of cancer cells, which are located in the main lymph node. The appearance of such a process indicates the imminent start of intensive care.
- 3 - the tumor begins to actively strengthen in the patient's body, affecting the lymphatic and lymphatic drainage systems. Pain syndrome becomes a constant companion of the development of the pathological process. In addition, other symptoms of inflammation are added - a rise in body temperature, deterioration in general condition, thermal discoloration of the skin, cough, and difficulty swallowing.
- 4 - the final stage of the disease is characterized by deep tumor metastasis, the connection to the cancer process of all the basic life support systems, a painful change in many internal organs, septic lesion of the surface and deep layers of the skin, temperature crisis - fever, malfunction of respiratory function, heart rhythm disturbance.
Weights are also caused by multiple changes in the bone-cartilaginous, ligamentous apparatus. The nerve fiber, including several pairs of SMN, also ceases to function, conducting infection on its bases. The apogee of the disease state is the gradual withering of the patient and his imminent death. Intensive therapy gives results only until stage 4 of the cancer process. In the future, the outcome of radiation therapy and other medical practices cannot be predicted.
Treatment methods
Improving the equipment for the treatment of cancer patients is one of the priority areas in the policy of the state and healthcare of the Russian Federation. This is due to a sharp increase in the number of severe patients who cannot receive qualified medical care in district centers and state rehabilitation institutions due to a lack of places and narrow specialists. Therefore, today, as an emergency measure to provide emergency medical care for people with cancer, additional places have been created in private clinics. Patients are served on a medical policy, paying only the cost of drugs during the rehabilitation period.
What can oncologists offer private hospitals?
The following treatments are available for facial skin cancer:
- High-precision surgery to remove the tumor on any part of the face, body. The most effective are operations that were performed in the early stages of the development of the disease. Skin cancer on the face is removed using a laser knife with further cauterization (electrocoagulation) and curettage of neoplasm residues (curettage). In the event that the tumor metastasized and affected not only the upper and middle integument of the epidermis, but strengthened in the deep layers, absorbing subcutaneous fat, the patient is prescribed micrographic surgery using the MOHS method (Mohs). Using a laser scalpel, the surgeon removes the entire affected area, giving the finished material for expert evaluation to histologists. As soon as clinical experts confirm the complete removal of cancer cells, the procedure is declared completed. Further, to eliminate cosmetic defects, a plastic contour operation is assigned.
- Radiotherapeutic techniques. Radio wave therapy is performed after surgical removal of the tumor. This is necessary so that the microparticles of the neoplasm are completely destroyed and henceforth no longer grow. The dosage of radiation and the form of exposure are selected individually, taking into account the severity of the pathological process and the natural mechanisms of resistance of the body. Radio wave therapy can be replaced by a photodynamic series of hardware flashes or immunomodulatory drug therapy.
- Chemotherapeutic effect with the stage of complex preparation. Chemotherapy is conditionally divided into two subspecies: systemic chemotherapy and local. In the case of tumor metastasis, the radioactive substance is injected directly into the metastasis cyst. Punctures are carried out before a thorough study of the number of processes, their branching, the speed of attachment to healthy organs (bones, tissue and nerve fibers). Local CT implies direct application of the drug in the zone of greatest damage. In medical practice, daughter-maternal disposal of neoplasms on the skin is very common - it is necessary to remove the main source of the disease, after which the local inflammatory foci begin to die by themselves, without constant feeding. Of course, in the case of skin cancer after MHT, several laboratory hardware procedures are required to permanently remove the remnants of the tumor.
- Photodynamic therapy. It implies the destruction of cancer cells by breaking up with UV rays. This technique is one of the most effective, especially in the early stages of the development of the disease. The main contraindication to its implementation is the high sensitization to light rays in the patient. Therefore, before daring to test a new “young” technique, it is necessary to undergo a comprehensive examination and make sure that there are no negative effects on the part of the immune system.
- Immune and targeted therapy. Sophisticated and promising techniques involving targeted target destruction of the tumor by stimulating the immune system or the introduction of drugs designed specifically for a particular type of cancer based on the individual genetic characteristics of the patient. Some experts are sure that over time this area in oncology will replace all other methods of treating neoplasms, but so far, immune and targeted therapy are used in combination with other procedures and for the prevention of relapses. Everyone can participate in the development of a new progressive approach. To do this, you need to contact the head doctor of the institution and sign an agreement on the desire to transfer your clinical data to compile medical statistics.
Today there are a huge number of special techniques that allow patients to completely recover from any form of cancer. The most important thing is to see the doctor on time and try to find alternative ways to get quality medical care so that you can not only fight skin cancer, but also avoid relapses. Also, do not forget that the tendency to the occurrence of neoplasms (both benign and malignant) is inherited from mother to fetus. In a sleeping state, genetic cells can wander around the body for a long time and wake up at any time. Therefore, many oncologists recommend that women and men who have undergone skin cancer or another form of oncopathology enroll in pregnancy planning courses and study the genetic material for compatibility, and after the baby is born, immediately tell the pediatrician about the fact of treatment for malignant neoplasms.
Forecast
Skin cancer, like any other type of oncology, progressing, affects not only healthy cells, but the whole organism. This is due to the creation of an aggressive environment and the rejection of their own tissues at the cellular level. The prognosis of a disease associated with cancer, depends on the severity of the manifestations and the degree of destruction. If we talk about skin cancer, the statistics show the following data:
- successful cure - 90% of cases in the first or second stage;
- 50% of favorable outcomes in the third stage;
- only 10-12% of patients recovered in the fourth final stage of the disease.
This is due to the fact that basiliomas respond to therapy much better than melanomas. Another important aspect affecting the prognosis is the presence of complications. Septic human skin protects it from the penetration of harmful bacteria and dirt. When neoplasms occur, the dermis ceases to function correctly, freely missing many bacterial and other agents.
Thus, the patient may experience:
- inflammation of bone tissue, periosteum and nerve fiber;
- bleeding and sepsis;
- infection of the tissues of the zygomatic, frontal lobes, followed by the penetration of the infection into the brain.
In the presence of such complications, it is impossible to clearly formulate a forecast. Doctors can only speculate how the patient will react to intensive care.