Melanoma and CNS Tumors – Types of Cancer (Nursing)

00:01 Now melanoma also might be one that you have noted with a little star we first started this video series because it begins in the cells, it become melanocytes.

00:10 This is what you see most often as skin cancer.

00:14 People who were exposed to a lot of sun or tanning beds tend to be at higher risk for this.

00:19 So melanoma starts in the melanocytes of your skin.

00:24 So melanocytes are those specialized cells that make melanin.

00:27 Now we all want that beautiful brown skin but we can actually really do damage to your skin in the long-term.

00:33 So most of the melanomas form on other skin but can also form on other pigmented tissue like your eye, that to me is ugh, that really weirds me out but most often you see melanoma ,it will start on the skin.

00:49 Brain and spinal cord tumors are never a good idea, right? There are different types of brain and spinal cord tumors and they're named based on the type of cell in which they're formed.

01:01 So an astrocytic tumor start in me astrocytes, those are those star-shaped brain cells.

01:07 Brain tumors can be benign or malignant but this is one of the worst places to have a tumor because even a benign brain tumor can be dangerous.

01:18 A benign brain tumor causes extra pressure inside your head, right? You're intracranial pressure elevate to the point because you got that extra mass of tissue in there.

01:29 Your intracranial pressure could elevate to the point that you really start to notice some impairment of your function or even worse it could proceed to herniation.

01:38 So this is the worst case in my opinion that you'd want to have even a benign tumor.

01:45 Now there's some other less common miscellaneous tumors.

01:48 There's germ cell tumors, those start in the cells that becomes sperm or egg and they could occur almost anywhere in the body and become benign or malignant.

01:58 Neuroendocrine tumors, okay look at that neuro- and -endocrine so that gives you clue where these come from.

02:05 They come from cells that release hormones into the blood.

02:09 So tumors may make higher than normal levels of hormone.

02:13 Okay, we are very delicate creatures, right? We have a very small window of balance for hormones in our bloodstream so if you have a neuroendocrine tumor and it starts making higher levels of hormones, all kinds of things are gonna be out of whack in your body.

02:32 So even if it's a benign tumor, this is still gonna wreak havoc on your body.

02:37 Neuroendocrine tumors can be benign or malignant but again, you don't want either one of those.

02:43 Now, carcinoid tumors or another type of neuroendocrine tumor, they're slow-growing tumors.

02:49 Usually found in the GI system, usually the rectum or the small intestine are the most common places for it.

02:54 Now this could also spread to the liver or other sites and it might secrete serotonin or prostaglandins which can cause carcinoid syndrome.