Letter to Dad: Exploring Skin Cancer Types and Processes

This assignment is a letter written by a student to their father, explaining various aspects of skin cancer. The letter begins by highlighting the different types of cancer, with a focus on skin cancer. It details the three main types of skin cancer: squamous cell carcinoma, melanoma, and basal cell carcinoma, discussing their characteristics and prevalence. The letter then delves into the biological processes involved, particularly mitosis, and how uncontrolled cell division contributes to cancer development. It explains how mitosis, the process of cell division, is fundamental to the growth and repair of skin cells, and how disruptions in this process lead to the formation of cancerous cells. The letter emphasizes the importance of early detection and understanding the mechanisms of cancer. The student provides a clear and concise explanation of the topic, supported by references to relevant research. This letter aims to inform the family about the nature of skin cancer and its underlying biological processes.

Running head: LETTER
LETTER TO DAD
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1LETTER
Dear dad,
I hope you are doing well and I am fine too. This is to draw your attention to the fact that I have
accumulated a few things from my research about cancer. I am writing to you since I want the
family to be aware of the types and processes of the development of cancer.
Cancer is of many types, the most significant are lung, skin, colon, breast and prostate cancer. I
will talk about the types of skin cancer observed until today. Skin cancer is of three main types.
These are named as squamous cell carcinoma, melanoma and basal cell carcinoma (Apalla et al.,
2017). Melanoma has been found to be less common than all the other types of cancer. However,
it can be stated that melanoma is very much likely to invade the nearby tissues and also spread to
other body parts. Cases of deaths have also been reported due to the occurrence of melanoma
among a patient population. The upper part of the skin (epidermis) has been found to constantly
shed and form new cells. When these cells start showing an out of control growth, squamous cell
carcinoma occurs. In the lower part of the epidermis, cells continuously divide in order to replace
the squamous cells when they die on the skin surface (Adhikari, Shah & Jha, 2019). These cells
have been found to move to the epidermis and they start getting flattered and become squamous
cells eventually. Cancers in the skin have been found to start in the basal layer because of
uncontrolled cell growth in the area and they are named as basal cell carcinomas. These are the
two layers of skin that are associated with the occurrence of cancer (Losquadro, 2017). Mitosis is
the process of self cell division and is the basis of cancer when an out of control cell division
occurs, Cancer cells have not been found to operate in a similar way as the other types of cells in
the human body. Thus, they start replicating and they damage the surrounding tissues. During the
process of mitosis, a cell divides and produces two identical copies of itself in the form of
daughter cells (de Pedro et al., 2018). This process is controlled by cell cycle regulatory proteins

2LETTER
but gets spontaneous when the cell cycle genes mutate inside the cells and the process becomes
uncontrolled. For the development of all the human body structures, cell division is required. The
outer layer of the human body consists of the skin which is also the first physiological barrier
towards the entry of external organisms inside the human body (Sanz-Gómez et al., 2020). Skin
cells reproduce by mitosis and produce all the layers of skin by this process. Thus, mitosis is a
daily activity for the skin cells in order to repair and replace the dead cells. Thus, during the
process of cancer, uninhibited cell growth leads to an increase in cell population in the skin
layers and cause carcinoma. Melanocytes also have been reported to grow in an uncontrolled
manner in the melanoma. This is all about skin cancer and its types associated with its
mechanism of occurrence.
I hope that I made it clear that skin cancer is a dangerous health disorder which is very hard to
control if not diagnosed at an early stage. Since cancer involves the cells of one's own body, it is
very hard to control the body's very own mechanisms. My best wishes will be with you and the
family and I hope that you will be helped by reading this letter.
Thanking you Yours
faithfully
Name of the Student
Date

3LETTER
References
Adhikari, R. C., Shah, M., & Jha, A. K. (2019). Histopathological pattern of skin cancer at
tertiary referral skin health centre. Journal of Pathology of Nepal, 9(2), 1555-1559.
Apalla, Z., Lallas, A., Sotiriou, E., Lazaridou, E., & Ioannides, D. (2017). Epidemiological
trends in skin cancer. Dermatology practical & conceptual, 7(2), 1.
de Pedro, I., Alonso-Lecue, P., Sanz-Gómez, N., Freije, A., & Gandarillas, A. (2018). Sublethal
UV irradiation induces squamous differentiation via a p53-independent, DNA damage-
mitosis checkpoint. Cell death & disease, 9(11), 1-12.
Losquadro, W. D. (2017). Anatomy of the skin and the pathogenesis of nonmelanoma skin
cancer. Facial Plastic Surgery Clinics, 25(3), 283-289.
Sanz-Gómez, N., de Pedro, I., Ortigosa, B., Santamaría, D., Malumbres, M., de Cárcer, G., &
Gandarillas, A. (2020). Squamous differentiation requires G2/mitosis slippage to avoid
apoptosis. Cell Death & Differentiation, 1-17.