What is skin cancer?

Also known as: basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, melanoma.

Skin cancer is a very rare cancer in children, which, when present, results from skin cells growing without restraint. Some can potentially spread to other parts of the body. There are 3 main types of skin cancer: 

• Basal cell - the most common and very treatable.
• Squamous cell cancer - which is less common, grows faster and can rarely spread to other parts of the body.
• Melanoma - very unusual in children but as it spreads quickly causes most deaths.

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Reviewed by: Ana Margarita Duarte, MD

This page was last updated on: 1/29/2019 3:21:13 PM