;Resize=(1200,627)&hash=80b47c21ac0d5fd0c0ddfaac4841055c38d8dee821cd621456f99c6f996739a1 "Daniel Aminati’s wife has black skin cancer – what you need to know")
Difficult times have dawned for Daniel Aminati, the well-known TV presenter. Because his wife Patrice Eva Aminati was diagnosed with black skin cancer during a routine examination, which has already metastasized. In the meantime, the tumor on the neck and some lymph nodes have been removed from the young woman and mother of a seven-month-old daughter. As Daniel Aminati announced on Instagram, she now has to endure further treatments and immunotherapies.
Skin cancer is now one of the most common types of cancer in Germany. Every year around 40,000 people in Germany develop black and an estimated 250,000 people develop white skin cancer. The good news: According to the German Cancer Society (DKG), if the disease is detected early, it can often be cured.
How black skin cancer manifests itself
According to the DKG, black skin cancer often develops on the lower legs in women and on the back in men. The appearance of the tumors is not uniform. Flat, nodular, or raised dark, brown, or black spots are common.
Non-melanoma skin cancer is rarely life-threatening
In the case of the much more frequent occurrence
light or white skin cancer
According to Klaus Kraywinkel from the Center for Cancer Registry Data (ZfKD) at the Robert Koch Institute, around 80 percent of cases are basal cell carcinoma, also known as basal cell carcinoma, which usually does not form metastases. Another 20 percent of patients suffer from squamous cell carcinoma, also squamous cell carcinoma or spinalioma, which can form metastases from a certain size. However, this is rarely the case. Other types of light skin cancer are very rare.
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White skin cancer is also rarely life-threatening, with 750 deaths in around 250,000 cases. It’s more dangerous
black skin cancer
, also known as malignant melanoma. Around 40,000 people develop it every year, which is significantly fewer than light skin cancer.
White skin cancer – this is what it can look like
White skin cancer occurs mainly on parts of the body that are particularly exposed to the sun, as the Berlin dermatologist Christian Kors explains.
These so-called sun terraces include, for example, the nose, the ears, the neck, the forehead, the hands, the décolleté and, especially in bald men, the scalp.
Contrary to what the name might suggest, white skin cancer does not form bright patches. A basal cell carcinoma is usually skin-colored to reddish and nodular or tumor-like. Scaling areas of skin with a border of small nodules are also typical. According to the DKG, the tumors can also be noticeable through weeping or bleeding.
Squamous cell carcinomas, on the other hand, vary greatly in their appearance: they can appear wart-like or resemble weeping ulcers. Skin tumors are often noticeable as ragged, scaly, or crusted patches.
Risk factors are primarily UVA and UVB rays
“Light skin cancer is mainly UV-related,” explains dermatologist Christian Kors. The #1 risk factor is exposure to the sun. Harmful UVA and UVB rays trigger the disease by causing mutations in skin cells. Children in particular should therefore be well protected from the sun, because sunburn at a young age increases the risk of skin cancer in adulthood. Visits to the solarium also increase the risk of illness.
“In the case of black skin cancer, UV radiation also plays a role,” explains the dermatologist. Although radiation is an important factor, it is still only one of several factors, not all of which are known.
Tanning cult in the 70s and 80s
Medically, the importance of non-melanoma skin cancer has only been known since the 1990s, says dermatologist Kors. In the past there was only sun protection with a low sun protection factor.
There was a real tan cult in the 1970s and 1980s. People spent hours in the blazing sun, also because skin cancer was not an issue at the time. If sun protection was used at all, then in the single digits. With fatal consequences that are only noticed years later. Because skin cancer develops slowly.
Today, the attention to the dangerous solar radiation is greater.
However, people still have to protect themselves more consistently today.
How best to protect yourself
It helps above all to avoid strong sunlight and to wear protective, long clothing and a hat. You should also use high sun protection with UV-A and UV-B filters and apply the cream generously to the skin. Many people apply sunscreen too sparingly, which means that effective protection is not provided.
Dermatologist Christian Kors even advises applying skin protection every day.
“A sun protection factor of 20 or higher should be used every day
–
no matter what time of year.”
If you are planning leisure activities outside, you should also adjust the SPF upwards. The dermatologist recommends protection from
LSF 50 plus.
Regular skin cancer screening is also crucial. Statutory health insurance companies pay for such a screening every two years from the age of 35. However, Kors recommends going and checking your skin yourself once a month for any noticeable changes in the shape, color, or size of existing or new spots.
At this age, skin cancer occurs
Skin cancer often takes decades to develop. According to the DKG, basal cell carcinoma occurs on average at the age of 60, and patients with squamous cell carcinoma develop it at an average age of 70.
The risk of developing black skin cancer also increases with age. According to Klaus Kraywinkel, women contract the disease at an average age of around 60, and men around 67. However, there are also significantly younger patients.