高齢者の皮膚腫瘍

Skin tumors in aged patients consist of benign tumors, precancerous lesions or carcinomas in situ, and skin cancers. We reviewed the clinical characteristic and treatment for each of them, and the molecular pathogenesis and protection for skin cancers. Exposure to ultra-violet (UV) radiation is the most common cause of skin cancers. In particular, UV-B radiation is mainly involved in the mutagenesis in the skin by two major photoproducts of a cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer and a (6-4) photoproduct. Recently, the ozone layer of the earth has been destroyed, and the increase in UV-B radiation on the earth surface can be expected in the next years. Therefore, we should add special attention to patients with skin cancers that are predicted to increase in number, and UV protection by sunscreens from childhood should be essential for the prevention against skin cancers in the 21st century.