What are cancer, skin cancer and tumours?
Cancer is a disease of the cells in the body. There are many different types of cell in the body, and there are many different types of cancer which arise from different types of cell. What all types of cancer have in common is that the cancer cells are abnormal and multiply ‘out of control’. Skin cancers are divided into: • Melanoma (‘malignant melanoma’). This type of skin cancer develops from melanocytes. • Non-melanoma. These are divided into: • Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) – skin cancer which develops from basal cells. • Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) – skin cancer which develops from keratinocytes • Other – other types of skin cancer are rare. A malignant tumour is a ‘growth’ of tissue made up from cancer cells which continue to multiply. Malignant tumours invade into nearby tissues and cause damage. Most types of malignant tumour also tend to spread (metastasise) to other parts of the body. Melanoma skin cancer has a high risk of spread. However, it is very rare for a BCC to spread
