British Woman Diagnosed With Rare Skin Cancer Blames Hairbrush for Condition; How Severe Is Basal Cell Carcinoma?

A woman from the United Kingdom who blamed her scratch on a hairbrush got terrified after she found out she had skin cancer, which caused the forming of a "volcanic crater" in her forehead.

Vigour Times reported that 48-year-old Rachel Collet told a media outlet that she just thought "I'd scratch myself or it was a beauty spot."

She's reportedly suffering from basal cell carcinoma, a skin cancer variant believed to be caused by long-lasting exposure to ultraviolet radiation from sunlight.

Essentially, basal cell carcinoma appears most frequently on skin areas exposed to the sun, such as the neck and head.

Basal Cell Carcinoma

A Mayo Clinic report said BCC is one of the most common strains, comprising 75 percent of skin cancers. Furthermore, the medical center said, avoiding the sun and applying sunscreen may help shield against the disease.

This Bideford, Devon native reportedly first noticed the mark in 2014 and at first believed her comb caused it since she had long hair that she was always brushing back.

Nonetheless, alarm bells went off after the blemish started scabbing over. Collet described her condition and said the sore scabbed and the scab would fall off, but the score remained.

The woman, who works at a school, added that it gradually began to pucker around it and that what she described as a "volcanic crater " began dipping into her head.

Use of Sunscreen Linked to Skin Cancer

The spot was where Collett initially learned she might have skin cancer from disregarding to apply some sunscreen during her youth.

The woman also explained that her doctor was 98 percent sure when she got to the clinic that what she had was BCC, and she was asked questions like if she went on sunbeds, which she answered with a "No."

Collet was also asked if she used sun cream; she didn't since she was born in 1974, when skin cancer was not that well-known yet.

She also said, since she was "olive-skinned," her mother would put coconut oil on her instead of sunscreen since she was not aware of the effects of skin cancer.

Unlikely to Spread to Other Organs

When she indeed wore sun cream, Collet would only put on SPF 15, which was not enough to shield her during her yearly trips to the Greek Islands during her 20s.

Either way, the probability that this woman had skin cancer frightened her. The diagnosis was a little worrying since she had never heard of it in the past.

She was told her condition was very rare for doctors to see it in someone her age as it's typically affecting older individuals, a related New York Post report specified.

The woman was also told she would likely sprout more BCC bumps in her life like an "epidermal hydra." Her fears were alleviated somewhat after her doctors gave her a leaflet explaining that it was very rare for cancer to spread to other organs. Nevertheless, surgeons excised the spot the following year.

Related information about basal cell carcinoma is shown on Mayo Clinic's YouTube video below:

Check out more news and information on Cancer in Science Times.