Have you ever seen The Wolverine? Or any of the X-Men movies? How about Les Miserables? Hugh Jackman was in all of those movies and gave outstanding performances. I bet you're wondering why I'm talking about him. Well, I was driving to school one day when I heard that Hugh Jackman had basal cell carcinoma. That shocked me, and I felt sympathy for him.
But what is basal cell carcinoma? From what I've learned so far in histology, I was able to infer that it is cancer in the basal cells of the epidermis. That is just the general definition. From research, there can be a better explanation.
Basal cell carcinoma is when the basal cells in the stratum basal of the epidermis undergo uncontrollable growth. This can be caused by excessive exposure to UV rays. You see, melanocytes reside in this layer. Their function is to produce melanin to protect the skin from the UV rays. Luckily in carcinoma, the cancer isn't due to the melanocytes, so it is a nonmelanoma cancer. It is instead due to the uncontrolled growth of the tissue itself.
There are many forms of treatment such as medication, excision, electrodesiccation, cyrosurgery and many other options. He should be fine after he is treated. He needs to protect his skin from excessive UV ray exposure.
Reference: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000824.htm
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