Cancer Cases
Metastasis - http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Sites-Types/metastatic
http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/dermatologic_disorders/cancers_of_the_skin/basal_cell_carcino
ma.html
Basal cell carcinoma – Professional
http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/dermatologic_disorders/cancers_of_the_skin/melanoma.html
Squamous cell carcinoma – Professional
http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/dermatologic_disorders/cancers_of_the_skin/squamous_cell_ca
rcinoma.html
Melanoma – Professional
http://www.merckmanuals.com/home/skin_disorders/skin_cancers/melanoma.html?qt=melanoma&alt=sh
Squamous cell carcinoma – Home Edition
http://www.merckmanuals.com/home/skin_disorders/skin_cancers/squamous_cell_carcinoma.html?qt=squa
mous%20cell%20carcinoma&alt=sh
Basal cell carcinoma – Home Edition
http://www.merckmanuals.com/home/skin_disorders/skin_cancers/basal_cell_carcinoma.html?qt=squamous
%20cell%20carcinoma&alt=sh
Case 4: This tumor was found on the lower leg of a 35 year-old woman. Her family physician found it
concerning during a routine check-up and decided to take this picture. She was referred to a specialist, who
did a skin biopsy test and found out that it was indeed cancer. The doctor also found that it had spread to a
lymph node in her axillary region.
Retrived from wikimedia and National Cancer Institute.
*Case 4:
1. What type of skin cancer is this? (malignant melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma, or basal cell carcinoma). Explain
you answer. Give at least two reasons.
2.
What does it mean for cancer to metastasize? Besides examining lymph nodes, what is another test the doctor could
perform to determine if the cancer has metastasized?
3.
What type of cell found in the skin did this cancer originate from?
Case 5:
A 69 year-old man comes to have a doctor examine a bump on the top of his head. The bump is about 5 mm in
diameter, round, has a pearly appearance, and tiny blood vessels are visible within the bump. His dermatologist did a
histogram analysis (shown below). The doctor told the man that while this tumor would need to be treated, it was a
type that rarely metastasized. The cancerous growth is circled in the picture below.
1. What type of skin cancer is this? (malignant melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma, or basal cell
carcinoma). Explain you answer. Give at least 2 reasons.
2. What type of cell found in the skin did this cancer originate from?
3. Explain why the tissue picture shown is consistent with your diagnosis of which type of cancer it is.
Epidermis
Retrieved from Wikimedia commons