daup h i n c m s .o rg NONMELANOMA SKIN CANCERS What you need to know By CHARLENE LAM, MD, MPH ne in five people in the United States will develop skin cancer. More than 90% of those skin cancers will be basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) and squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs). Melanomas often get all the media coverage but is important to be aware of BCCs and SCCs. There are other nonmelanoma skin cancers too but they are exceedingly rare. The majority of BCCs and SCCs are due to excessive ultraviolet (UV) light exposure. Fair skin patients are more prone O to the effects of UV exposure and thus skin cancer. However, though not as common, patients with darker skin types can have skin cancer as well. What is skin cancer? It is a group of abnormal skin cells that do not progress in the natural cell cycle like most normal cells. Instead, the damaged DNA in these cancerous cells directs them to continue to grow and reproduce, causing destruction of the normal Continued on page 24 Central PA Medicine Summer 2017 23http://www.dauphincms.org