It is a condition where a cancerous growth arises out of the skin. There are different types of skin cancer. The most common types are basal and squamous cells, and melanoma. The most dangerous type is malignant melanoma.

The history of skin cancer is not very well documented, but it has been around since a long time. 2400 year old mummies discovered in Peru were found to have had skin cancer. The first person to have actually operated on a skin cancer lesion was Scottish anatomist and surgeon John Hunter in 1787. He was the first person to come in contact with melanoma through surgery. Hunter didn’t know what it was although he said that it looked like a “cancerous fungous excrescence” – translated to “cancerous fungus”. This led scientists to preserve the extracted tumour in a medical museum in England.  Interestingly, this tissue was so well preserved that scientists were able to examine it in 1968 and it was confirmed as a melanoma.

Melanoma (skin cancer) was first identified as a disease by French physician, René Laennec who talked about it in a lecture in 1804. It is believed he also gave the disease its name. Laennec findings were published in 1806. In 1956, Henry Lancaster took it a step further and noticed when exposed to ultraviolet rays, the cancer become worse and actually started growing. Melanoma is still relatively incurable when discovered in the advanced stages.

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