Your skin's pigment is important to helping protect your skin from the sun's rays. Pigment levels can vary among individuals and ethnicities. They can also form discolorations on parts of the skin where pigment clusters, coagulates or disperses from.

Pain killer drugs, also commonly known as analgesics, come in many forms, each with a different potency and mode of action. The choice of pain killer typically depends on tolerability as well as the severity of the pain.

Lymphedema is swelling, often in only one arm or leg, that occurs when fluid cannot circulate properly and builds up in the tissues instead of being flushed out of the body. It is commonly a side effect of cancer or its treatment.

Monocytes, large white blood cells that turn into macrophages in tissue, help control infection by gobbling up bacteria, but have a less beneficial side. Monocytes can cause inflammation that damage tissue.

Colon cancer is a potentially curable disease if it is caught in the early stages. This is the reason the American Cancer Society has recommended screening people starting at age 50. The symptoms of colon cancer vary according to location of the cancer within the colon as well as any spread outside the colon.

A chemotherapy port is a small, circular plastic or metal button about the size of a quarter inserted below the skin. The port attaches a catheter and a vein. Chemotherapy drugs are administered via the port with a needle that fits into the port.

Melanoma staging is a standardized way for doctors to describe the severity of the disease. The cancer stage influences treatment choices and prognosis. With stage 3 melanoma, the cancer that originated in the skin has spread to one or more nearby lymph nodes.

The Mayo Clinic says that nipple discharge refers to fluid that is emitted from the breasts of women who are not breastfeeding. It states that the nipple discharge can be bloody, milky, yellow or green in color. Sometimes, bloody nipple discharge can be a serious sign of an underlying breast disease.

Radiation can disrupt both healthy and cancerous cell growth. The reason you wear a lead vest and the dental hygienist steps out of the room when she gives your teeth an x-ray is because too much radiation on your body can have negative effects.

The American Cancer Society describes uterine sarcoma as cancer that starts in the muscle and tissues that support the uterus. This differs from endometrial cancer, which starts in the lining of the uterus called the endometrium.

Different types of cancer can occur in the region of the chest, or thoracic cavity, according to the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center. Cancer can occur in the chest wall, causing pain due to tumors. Lung cancer is also a very common form of chest cancer.

There are many types of non-cancerous growths in the mouth, which occur in people of all ages. Growths may be in the form of a fluid filled cysts, excess bone growths, fibrosis tissues or lumps. They may be caused by different reasons such as irritation, an overgrowth of bone or infection.