Introduction
The skin is the largest organ in the body and it protects all of our internal structures such as other organs (e.g. the heart) and glands. The main function of the skin is to be a first line of defense for the body. It protects the body from harmful UV rays that are emitted from the sun and it also helps to regulate body temperature. For example, if it gets to hot outside the skin will cool the body by secreting perspiration. Plus it helps us to sense our surroundings through the many nerves located on its surface. Like all other organs the skin is susceptible to things that may harm it such as skin cancer, cannibalism, psoriasis, seborrhea, and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis . Skin cancer occurs when malignant tumors prosper on the skin and it is a very serious health issue. Diagram depicting the skin and its many layers

What are the three types of skin cancer?
The three types of skin cancers are melanoma, basal cell carcinoma, and squamous cell carcinoma. Diagram of the three types of skin cancers
• Melanoma is the most dangerous form of skin cancer. It forms when the cells that create skin pigment, melanocytes, are exposed to prolonged ultraviolet radiation and have unrepaired damage in their DNA. Whenever skin is exposed to UV radiation (sunlight/indoor tanning), DNA in the skin cells get damaged. This is normal, because the DNA can be repaired. But when in UV too long, the damage is either too much to repair or the repair isn't fast enough. Melanocytes with damaged DNA rapidly divide and become malignant tumors. They are mostly black/brown, but they can also be the color of your skin. If a melanoma tumor isn't found and treated, it can spread to other parts of the body, which is what makes it the most dangerous type of skin cancer. More people die from melanoma than they do the other two types. Melanoma has blackish brownish pigment.

-Melanoma can range from superficial to deep into the subcutaneous layer of the skin. Melanoma ranges in the skin.
Basal cell carcinoma is the second most common form of skin cancer. The major cause is radiation from the sun and from tanning. It happens when radiation goes deep into the layers of the skin and penetrates the basal layer of the epidermis. This layer is the part that forms new skin cells. When the DNA in the cells is mutated, and instead of going through the normal skin cell life cycle, it keeps growing and growing. It isn’t likely to spread to other parts of the body, but if it isn’t treated, it can spread to the bones. Another cause of basal cell carcinoma is improper/ infected tattooing. Because tattoos are permanent, the ink needs to be injected into the basal cell layer. If something goes wrong, there could be a risk for cancer. Basal cell carcinoma that is on the nose
• Squamous cell carcinoma forms in the squamous layer of the epidermis and the mucous membranes. It can be caused by radiation, burn damage, or injuries. Like all skin cancers, squamous cell carcinoma starts to happen when DNA in the skin cells is damaged and they don’t continue in the normal life cycle. They continue to grow and they don’t stop.

What can you do to avoid skin cancer?
What anyone can do to avoid skin cancer is to avoid radiation from sunlight when it is most dangerous. Do not spend too much time outside during the hottest hours of the day, which are from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

What Are The Most Common Treatments for Skin Cancer?
Skin cancer has many different treatments especially depending on what type of skin cancer is occurring. Chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery, immunotherapy, and photodynamic therapy (PDT) are all different treatment methods for skin cancer.
• Chemotherapy is type of treatment that uses drugs to destroy tumors (it can be used for skin cancers). Chemotherapy can be taken by the mouth or injected into the blood stream where it can reach the cancerous cells throughout the body. When chemotherapy is done to an area such as an organ, cerebrospinal fluid, or a body cavity, the drugs for the most part tend to affect the cancer cells. Retinoid is an example of a chemotherapy drug that treats squamous cell carcinoma. Drugs are used to help a person fight cancer in chemotherapy.

• Radiation therapy uses x-rays, gamma-rays, and other charged particles to shrink and kill cancer cells by damaging the DNA of those cells. The radiation can be delivered through an external beam (to the external part of the body) or from an internal radiation beam which is placed in the body, near the cancerous cells. There is even a type of radiation therapy where the health professional can place an iodine substance that can travel through the blood to annihilate the cancerous cells. Radiation Therapy uses x-rays, gamma rays, and other charged particles to heal tumors.

• Cancerous cells can also be taken out through surgeries such as excisions, where professionals use a surgical knife to remove the malignant cell from the surrounding healthy cells. There are other surgical methods to remove skin cancer such as curettage and electrodessication. Curettage is done with a long thin instrument with a deep looped edge called a curette and it is used to scrape away the unhealthy cells. Then the area is treated through the process of electrodessication, which uses an electrical needle to kill the remaining cancer cells. This process is done multiple times (at least two or three times) and it is best for superficial skin cancers such as basal and squamous cell cancer. These surgical practices may leave scars. Curettage is a surgical method of removing cancerous cells and is followed by electrodessication.

• Immunotherapy is a treatment technique which uses medicines to stimulate a person’s own immune system to recognize and destroy the cancer cells. Ipillmumab is an example of an immunotherapy drug and it is a synthetic version of antibodies found in a person immune system and it can be used to fight advance cases of melanoma cancers. It targets a chemical in the body called CTLA-4 that regulates the production of T lymphatic cells which are cells that help remove foreign substances or dead cells from the body. When the Ipillmumab blocks CTLA-4 the production T cells will increase thus increasing the chance of the body to fight off the cancer. Immunotherapy can stimulate a person’s own immune system to fight off cancer.

• Photodynamic therapy uses an important drug called photosensitizing agents, which are drugs that are pharmaceutically dormant but when exposed to ultraviolet radiation or sunlight they are active and produce a reaction to help destroy the diseased tissue. Depending on which part of the body that is being treated, photosensitizing drugs are injected into a vein and travel to blood stream. The light is then placed on the affected area and only the area that receives light activates the drug and thus is treated. The drug happens to stay longer in the cancer cell than in the body’s normal cells (24-72 hours). When most of the agent is basically gone from the healthy body cell the light is then shone on the cancerous cell where the agent has concentrated it. The light causes the drug to chemically create a form of oxygen that will kill nearby cancer cells. PDT also helps to destroy the blood vessels that transmits substances to feed the cancer cells and also alerts the immune system that there are malignant cells inside the body. However, the light used to activate most photodynamic therapy operations cannot pass through more than one centimeter of skin so PDT is mostly used for superficial tumors. It also cannot be used to treat large tumors because the light cannot penetrate that far into those tumors. Photodynamic Therapy uses light or ultraviolet rays to kill cancerous cells.
• Melanoma cancerous cells may be treated with chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery, and immunotherapy. Whereas basal skin carcinoma may be treated with radiation therapy, photodynamic therapy, and surgery. Squamous cell carcinomas may be treated with radiation therapy, surgery, chemotherapy, and photodynamic therapy.

What Is Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis?
Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN) can be caused by medications and infections. It also tends to be idiopathic at times, meaning arises spontaneously. It is a potentially life threatening disorder and it is categorized by widespread erythematic, necrosis, and bullous detachment of the epidermis and mucous membranes. If mucous membranes are involved, toxic epidermal necrolysis can spread to the inside of the body and cause internal hemorrhages and respiratory failure. Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis causes the epidermis to begin dying due to a buildup of a series of biochemical reactions leading to cell changes and cell death. When the epidermis begins to die it starts to separate and “fall off” the body. TEN essentially removes your skin; this exposes the body to infection and disease. The body is then more susceptible to the harmful rays of the sun. Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis can be caused by medicines. Antibacterial drugs associated with the cause of this disease include the following:
-Sulfonamides (4.5 cases per million users per week)
-Chloramphenicol
-Macrolides such erythromycin
-Penicillins
-Quinolones such as ciprofloxacin and trovafloxacin

Also there are anticonvulsants (treatments used for seizures or epilepsy) associated with the cause of TEN and they include the following:
-Phenobarbital
-Phenytoin
-Carbamazepine
-Valproic acid
-Lamotrigine

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which are drugs that reduce inflammation, pain, and fevers are associated with the cause of Toxic Epidermal. These medicines include:
-Ibuprofen
-Indomethacin
-Sulindac
-Tolmetin Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis causes the skin to “fall off” the body.

Why Would Losing Your Skin Be Potentially Fatal?
Our skin is our first line of defense against invaders. It protects us from viruses and pathogens and it also protects us from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation which would seriously harm us if not for the skin. Our skin contains various mechanisms that it uses in order to alert our bodies that there is an external change. Our largest and most powerful sense is that of the touch and where ever there is skin on our body, we can feel our surroundings. Our skin is where a large majority of receptors are contained and these receptors are those that detect temperature change and alert our bodies to maintain homeostasis. Without the skin we would have no idea if the external temperature were freezing cold or melting hot. Our skin also serves as a raincoat as it provides our bodies with a waterproof armor. Without our skin we would not be able to produce any vitamin D which we gain from the sun. Just as plants absorb sunlight for photosynthesis, our skin uses the suns energy to produce vitamin D. The skin is very important to us because it protect us from harmful things such as the suns hurtful UV rays.

What Are Psoriasis and Seborrhea?
Psoriasis is a condition of the skin that causes the skin cells to grow too rapidly thus resulting in thick, white, silvery or red patches of skin. It also causes swelling and inflammation of the skin (pain, heat, redness). The skin sheds after about twenty-seven days (about four weeks) and then the new skin cells grow gradually to replace those that have been shed. However in psoriasis the new skin cells grows in a matter of a few days and not weeks and they build up thick patches called plaques. Psoriasis is not contagious but it can be linked to certain genes and it happens mostly to adults. Although, psoriasis transpires when the T cells of the immune system are activated by mistake. The cells become so active that they set off other immune responses such as swelling of the skin and a faster paced shedding and regeneration of the skin cells. The patches may be small or big and can occur on the knees, elbows, leg, scalp, lower back, palms, and soles of the feet. They may also show up in places such as the genitals, the mouth, toenails and fingernails. Treatments for psoriasis may include tropical treatments (creams applied to the skin help reduce inflammation and sooth the skin) and systematic treatments (which are drugs that help to treat the psoriasis). Antibiotics are not used in the treatment of the disease unless bacterial infection is present.
Seborrhea is like psoriasis except it forms on oily areas of the skin such as the scalp. It comes out as flaky white to yellow scales like psoriasis and it comes with and without redness of the skin. It can be on parts of the face as well, including the nose, behind the ears, the forehead, and the eyebrows and eyelids. Medicated dandruff shampoo or creams can be helped to treat it.

Psoriasis causes a person to have red flakey patches on their skin.

What is Cannibalism?
Cannibalism is the consumption of the flesh of an animal by another animal that is of its same kind. It occurs amongst humans and is (pertaining to humans) the nonconsensual consumption of another human being’s body matter. The first known accounts of cannibalism occurred in the West Indies and it was discovered by an exposition led by Christopher Columbus. Columbus and his crew observed that the Carib tribe of that area practiced the act of eating human flesh. The explorers had mispronounced the name of the tribe however and called them the Canibs instead of Carib. Thus the people of the tribe were known as and called the canabales, which means thirsty and cruel in Spanish. Cannibalism can also be called anthropophagy. Cannibalism exists amongst humans also.

References http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Psoriasis/psoriasis_ff.asp http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/229698-overview http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/information/anatomy/care-for-the-epidermis.htm ww.aafp.org/afp/2000/0501/p2713.htmlw http://www.skincancer.org/skin-cancer-information/squamous-cell-carcinoma http://www.skincancer.org/skin-cancer-information/basal-cell-carcinoma