Common drug can prevent skin cancer

A research conducted at Stanford school of medicine has found the drug celecoxib, when used externally, to be useful in preventing skin cancer.

The side-effects of the oral intake of medicine are severe though; including heart attack or stroke. The treatment has been found successful in avoiding the most common types of cancer.

Skin cancer is the most common of all types of cancers with over a million fresh cases reported yearly. The rise in the number of people affected by the disease is a cause of great concern and requires much research.

Skin cancer types
Skin cancer has different stages; mainly three from the least to the most dangerous--basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma. Out of these, the first two are the most common types of skin cancers affecting a major population. These two forms, collectively, are known as nonmelanoma skin cancer.

In basal cell carcinoma, cancer cells resemble the epidermis--the outer layer of the skin, and does not spread to the inside.

Squamous cell carcinoma is the type where cancer originates in the squamous cells that look like scales on a fish’s body. Squamous cell carcinoma may arise at the face of the skin, the coating of the void organs of the body, or the respiratory and digestive areas.

The melanoma is the most serious type of cancer as it spreads through the body rapidly. It originates in the skin cells called melanocytes, and spreads through various layers of the skin.

Causes of skin cancer
Out of many causes of basic skin cancer types, the most frequent is the ultra-violet rays present in the sunlight. Exposure to sun, particularly in the early years, is one of the basic causes of basal cell carcinoma.

Mainly skin cancers appear in the late 50s, yet the harm already done in the early years of life is the root.

Symptoms
Visible changes in the skin can be taken as indications of skin cancer. These may include sudden new development or an ache at the surface of the skin that is worsening.

Another warning is any inexplicable transformation in the skin enduring for more than a fortnight.

The study is due to appear in Cancer Prevention Research.