Word: basal
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...colon cancer. Actually, it was a bit more than that, as the President himself finally admitted. "I had, well, I guess for want of a better word, a pimple," he explained last week. "I was informed that it has been examined [by biopsy] and it was indeed a basal-cell carcinoma, the most common and least dangerous kind [of cancer...
...common, in fact, that Reagan was not the only American leader reported last week to be afflicted with it. Former President Richard Nixon, it was revealed, underwent treatment two weeks ago to excise a basal-cell growth behind his left ear. In all, approximately 500,000 Americans a year develop skin cancer, and the overwhelming majority of these are basal-cell carcinomas, usually small, pearly nodules that sometimes become red, crusty lesions and appear most often on the face. "The sun is responsible for almost all of them," says Dr. Perry Robins, a New York University dermatologist and president...
Promptly removed, basal-cell carcinomas rarely pose a danger. There are several methods for getting rid of them. President Reagan's "pimple," and a similar growth on Nancy Reagan's upper lip in 1982, were excised by a procedure called curettage and electrodesiccation (see diagram) that usually takes five minutes. In this method, the dermatologist applies a local anesthetic and then scrapes away the soft, mushy tumor cells with a curette, an instrument with a sharp circular blade. Afterward, an electrified needle is applied to the area to destroy any remnants of malignancy. In the case of Nixon...
...best way to avoid all types of skin cancer is simply to stay out of the sun, especially during the peak-intensity hours of midday. For those who cannot resist its lure, doctors urge the use of sunscreens designed to block ultraviolet radiation. People who have already had a basal-cell carcinoma run a 25% risk of developing another and must be especially cautious. Last week Reagan admitted that this advice was "a little heartbreaking ... because all my life I've lived with a coat of tan, dating back to my lifeguard days...
...stay out of the sun, a million Americans will develop skin cancer this year. The only good news for die-hard sun worshippers is that treatments are improving. The FDA just gave 3M Pharmaceuticals the go-ahead to market Aldara as a therapy for a common type of basal-cell carcinoma (BCC)--the first new topical approved for BCC in 25 years. In trials, cancerous lesions cleared up after three months for more than 80% of patients...