how can a persn die of skin cancer?

Question

I do not see how skin cancer can cause death since it is contained in the dermis and does not affect any major organs

Answer 1

yes, and it is a very terrible death! The skin is an "ORGAN" by itself!

Answer 2

The skin has a surprising amount of blood vessels running through it, which is why you bleed when you are cut. Therefore, even though a cancer can appear to be contained in the dermis, it will spread to other organs and eventually cause death.

Answer 3

Besides Metastasis, which is the process by which a malignant tumour spreads to other parts of the body, for eg lymph nodes and lungs, a cancer has other systemic effects also, one of which cachexia which means progressive loss of muscles mass and fat from the body which cannot be reversed by the provision of calories, to put it in a layman's terms , cancers cause wasting away of a person, and any amount of nutrition cannot reverse this process.
Most cancers are also associated with a number of paraneoplastic syndromes, the effects of some of these syndromes is more toxic than the tumour itself.
I hope that helped

Answer 4

All cancers can metasticize and spread, and if not cured it is very painful and deadly. Read about Ronald Reagan's daughter Maureen, she died from skin cancer. Metasticize means that it strikes major organs and destroyes the cells of that organ

Answer 5

It depends on the type of the cancer. Non-melanoma cancers (basal cell and squamous cell cancers, the most common types of skin cancer), almost never metastasis through the body. However, melanoma does metastasize, therefor can cause cancer in other parts of body and potentially cause death.

Answer 6

Basal cell carcinoma, which constitutes about 90% of skin cancer, grows slowly and rarely spreads past the skin. Squamous cell carcinoma spreads to other organs only slightly more often.
Melanoma is rare, but it is quite dangerous. It can metastasize to other organs.
So, it is wise to get your skin problems checked, just in case.

Answer 7

If skin cancer is left untreated, it can spread and invade other parts of the body, especailly the breasts and lungs, which would then cause death. The cancer invades the cell, replacing the DNA with its own RNA, creating it's own blood supply and taking on a life of its own. It then moves to other parts of the body and can definately kill you.

Answer 8

My uncle had skin cancer that spread throughout his body. If you remember back to health class, what is the largest organ of the human body?.........skin

Answer 9

Cancer cells can metastasize, that means migrate, to other parts of the body. And when they affect vital organs.. there, one dies

Answer 10

Cancers often spread to other organs.