"It's the only cancer that a single person can detect in time"

Sandra Ponce is currently president of the Argentine branch of the Argentine Society of Dermatology (DAS) in San Luis. He stated that it was very important to perform self-exams on the skin and said: "For two years we have a machine called Photo Finder that allows to map the whole body in high resolution of the whole body of a person.And also does a digital dermatoscopy on moles that allows to study each of them.In turn, the machine has a program that calibrates them according to their level of gravity. "

Although he is in a private center, Ponce said that "people who have social work can ask for a change and it is important that people know it because it is of the last generation and we have it here in town and it is no longer necessary to travel another province to become a "whole body" ".

The doctor has been dedicated to this specialty since 1994 and stated that "it is very important that we all perform a self-examination of the skin." Look at the whole body and detect where we have moles or wounds Because skin cancer is the only one that the same person can detect in time, but for any other organ, we have to wait for the symptoms, but we can look at the skin. " The dermatologist lamented that "there are very few who do it.The self-knowledge of the skin is essential.You must see the ends of the hands and feet, the bad area and the plant of the feet, because we detected melanomas.Alone one of the patients, when he detected it alone, already had metastases. "

Ponce stated that "every dermatologist once a month or every fortnight we diagnose a basal cell carcinoma that appears in areas exposed to the sun.Normally, it has a benign course, despite the fact that it has bad cells but it is removed and there is no need to suffer major drawbacks.Another much more common cancer is squamous cell carcinoma in situ, which is the one located in the superficial layer of the skin and which is treated with electrocoagulation or cryosurgery.This has a less common variant when piercing the epidermis and is detected in people with deep scars, old burns or patients who have undergone radiotherapy, and the third is melanoma. which is the most dangerous and the most serious, I may have detected two a year. "

The specialist admitted that "the number of people who prefer the solar bed is still greater than the number of people who want to sunbathe, which is serious because the use of this technology is not properly regulated or regulated Without going any further now, I treat a patient who had gone to a solar bed and did not put the protectors on her eyes, conclusion: she had significant keratitis, her cornea was damaged. And that's because no one had warned him when he was going to turn he had to use that protection, it's a very gross mistake, and the skin types are not controlled, they're more sensitive and should not be used or exposed to the sun, but unfortunately they are the ones who use them the most. "

He also complained that adults "do not give due consideration to the care that is given to children.The skin has the memory and remembers all sunburns caused by the sun throughout its life. Basically, when we are children under the age of 16. That's why it's important that a child's sun exposure is controlled by parents or physical education teachers at school. " he asked them not to do gymnastics at noon, precisely because of the damage they may suffer on the skin.

Use of sunscreen

Sun protection is a necessary element today to fight against the sun's rays. And the right choice of a protective cream at the time of being in the pool, the sea or in the rivers is essential. "What I recommend is to buy sunscreen at the pharmacy because those who are for sale there are authorized by Anmat and this ensures the person that his purchases meet the qualities they claim to have, "he said. And he recalled that "we have already seen a TV show where it was shown that some brands of protectors did not respect, for example, the protection factor advertised on the packaging".

Depending on the skin type, it is the factor that determines the protector: "If it is a patient of phototype 1, for example those who have very white skin, which immediately become red when they are in the sun and never tan They need a factor of 50 or more The same thing for kids. 39, a darker phototype, so the protector can go to factor 30, but never lower than this. "

He also explained that "protections with factors ranging from 4 to 25 are like wearing nothing, because they have a very weak power of protection.You never have to buy those that are cheaper. as well apply them: half an hour before sun exposure and renew it after two hours because the effect is eliminated by the action of water and the sweat. "

Another recommendation to consider when sunbathing is medication that a person may have prescribed. "There are many medications like those given for acne that raise the sun."

Merkel cell carcinoma

The sun, but also a virus, are the risk factors for Merkel cell carcinoma, an aggressive tumor, even more so than melanoma, which more clearly affects light-skinned people in old age. Its ability to heal is directly related to the condition of the lesion at the time of diagnosis.

The more it is detected, the smaller and localized it is, the greater the chances of success of the treatment. It is therefore essential that patients present themselves quickly to consult a wound, as well as dermatologists and clinicians patients

It is a tumor that usually appears more frequently on the head, face and scalp, although it can also appear on the trunk and limbs. Merkel cell carcinoma is badociated with high sun exposure for many years and, in about 80% of cases, infection with a specific type of virus called the Merkel cell polyomavirus.

It is about 30 times less common than melanoma (0.24 cases per 100,000 population in the United States), but it is fatal in 1 in 3 cases, while melanoma is 1 in 65.

Other factors are age and chronic exposure to the sun. Age is related to the fact that the immune system degrades over time, but that the damage caused by ultraviolet radiation accumulates. Also to have a disorder such as HIV or with oncological disease.