Doha: Doctors at Hamad Medical Corporation have called on the public to identify the risks of skin cancer and follow some measures and precautions to reduce the risk of the disease as many types of skin cancer can be prevented, and this coinciding with the month of awareness of skin cancer, which is the most common cancer in Qatar.

Senior Consultant at National Centre for Cancer Care and Research Dr. Mohamed Osama al-Homsi, said that exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun is one of the most important causes of skin cancer, as well as artificial light used to change the colour of the skin in beauty salons, and these risks can be minimized by avoiding sun exposure, using protective clothing and ointments to protect the skin from the sun, and avoiding skin colour change procedures in beauty salons.

Melanoma is one of the most serious types of skin cancer caused by excessive exposure to UV rays from the sun or skin colour change practiced in beauty salons. The symptoms of this disease are black or brown skin moles in the most exposed areas of the skin, such as face, neck, hands, and arms.

Doctors said that if the disease is detected at an early stage, it can be treated easily, and if left untreated, the cancer cells may spread in the patient’s body, and the disease may worsen to the extent that it may lead to death.

Dr Al Homsi pointed to the need for early detection of the disease to be treated before it is exacerbated, and the need to monitor any changes that may occur in the skin such as severe itching in the skin, dermatitis, skin tumors, appearance of skin ulcers that do not heal or the emergence of new and changing skin moles.

Senior Consultant at National Centre for Cancer Care Dr Riyad Hasan Mohsen, said that patients who visit the Department of Dermatology at Hamad Medical Corporation who are suspected of developing skin cancer, are referred to the National Center for Cancer Care and Research, where they are examined by center specialists within 48 hours of referral.

He explained that Hamad Medical Corporation had achieved great success in the treatment of cancer through immunotherapy, a sophisticated method used in the treatment of many types of cancer, including melanoma, and is doing its best to develop treatment methods suited to individual cases of patients.