Nevus with irregular pigmentation should be checked by a dermatologist for melanoma.
Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that starts in the skin's pigment-producing cells, called melanocytes. These cells produce melanin, which is the color of skin, eyes and hair. The National Cancer Institute says only 2% of all skin cancers are melanoma, making it very rare. This is also dangerous. Of all types of skin cancer, melanoma is the most deadly. In 2017, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) estimates that there will be 87,110 new cases of melanoma and 9,730 deaths.
While men are usually diagnosed with melanoma in their 60s, women can get melanoma at any age, with increased risk based on family history and amount of sun exposure. Doris Day, a New York City dermatologist and attending physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, said melanoma is one of the top cancer killers of women in their 20s and 30s. Day told Live Science that melanoma is the least common but the most serious. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, basal cell and squamous cell skin cancers are more likely to occur than melanoma. Causes and risk factors
Exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays is the leading cause of melanoma. When sunlight hits melanocytes, they produce more melanin, darkening the skin. This can lead to tanning, freckles or moles - the vast majority of which are benign.
Researchers believe that sufficient UV exposure can damage the DNA in melanocytes, causing them to grow uncontrollably into tumors. According to the Mayo Clinic, tanning sunburns, use of tanning beds, and overexposure to ultraviolet radiation can increase the risk of melanoma. "KDSPE" "KDSPs" A type of melanoma that usually begins in an existing mole or as a lesion of its own that looks like a mole. According to the National Cancer Institute, people with more than 50 common moles are more likely to develop melanoma. Melanoma also strikes people with fair skin more often. Less pigment in your skin means you have less protection against UV rays. According to the National Cancer Society, Caucasians are 30 times more likely to develop aggressive melanoma than people of African descent.
Melanoma most commonly occurs in the body Areas exposed to direct sunlight, such as arms, legs, head and face. However, melanoma can form anywhere on the body that contains melanin, including the eyes and small intestine, according to the National Cancer Institute.
"I've had people with melanoma in their belly buttons, but that's not a place that gets a lot of sun exposure," Day said, saying it can happen anywhere on your body.
One type of melanoma, called acral lenticel melanoma, may appear as black or brown discoloration on the soles of the feet, under the nails, or on the palms of the hands.
Because melanoma can develop in areas of the body that receive little sun exposure, doctors believe that genetic and environmental factors (including ultraviolet exposure) may cause melanoma, according to the Mayo Clinic. Patients with a family history of melanoma are more likely to develop melanoma. According to the National Cancer Institute, one in 10 people diagnosed with melanoma has a family member who has also been diagnosed with the disease. 'KDSPE' Symptoms and Diagnosis 'KDSPs' are the first signs of melanoma and appear as an unusual mole or a change to an existing mole. "KdSPE" "KDSPs": A mole that is asymmetric in shape but has irregular borders, has uneven color, is larger than the diameter of a pencil eraser, and changes in appearance may be a sign of melanoma.
An easy way to remember the changes to look for in moles is to refer to your ABCs: a for asymmetry, B for border, C for color, D for diameter, and E for evolution, Day says,
A mole that bleeds or itches is also a warning sign of melanoma.
A trained dermatologist can perform a head-to-toe examination to detect any irregular moles. However, according to the Mayo Clinic, the only way to diagnose melanoma is with a biopsy.
The Melafend Scanner, a technology developed in conjunction with NASA, can also help doctors check for suspicious moles. Day said the researchers developed methods for scanning and biopsiing more than 10,000 brown marks with melafen and developed an algorithm that provides information about the lesions.
The scan, which costs $175 out of pocket to examine a few spots, can look 0.08 inches (2 millimeters) beneath the skin, Day said, and requires no cutting.
If the scan reveals that the area may be cancerous, doctors will biopsy the area and send it to a lab, where researchers "look at the shape of the cells and how quickly they are dividing, and then give us A report, Day said: Melanoma is the most serious form of skin cancer. Learn more about melanoma at MyHealthNewsDaily.
Treatment
Melanoma tends to have a good prognosis when the cancer is caught early. If the lesions have not spread to the surface of the skin, simple surgery may be enough to cure the cancer.
"If it's less than 1 millimeter [0.04 inches], then we just cut it out with a nice margin, the National Cancer Institute estimates the five-year survival rate for people diagnosed with localized melanoma 91.7%. Fortunately, 84% of melanoma cases are diagnosed at this stage.
However, melanoma can be difficult to treat if it has spread to other parts of the body, according to the NIH. .
If the dark spot is more than 1 millimeter deep, doctors can do a sentinel lymph node biopsy, which uses dye to check whether the tumor has spread into the lymph node system. Doctors will then remove the spot, along with the stained lymph nodes, and examine these. Whether there is cancer in the lymph nodes. If the sentinel lymph nodes are free of cancer cells, the cancer cells may not have spread and doctors won't have to remove more lymph nodes. Doctors will also check if a person has melanoma. His head and chest
“Every cancer cell has a place it likes to go. "Melanoma likes to travel to the brain and lungs, so we do chest X-rays and brain scans.
If melanoma has spread under the skin to nearby lymph nodes, the five-year survival rate is 62 percent. If The 5-year survival rate for melanoma that has spread to distant parts of the body is 16%.
People with melanoma that has spread beyond the skin may need chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or biological therapies to treat the cancer. Traditional chemotherapy for melanoma. It doesn't work well, but many patients use interferon, a protein that helps the immune system
"[But] unfortunately, interferon is not an ideal treatment because it's in the advanced stages. "It extends life by about 11 months in some cases, but it's a painful 11 ??months," Day said.
Now, doctors can map each person's melanoma to see if it can Genetic patterns of treatment with chemotherapy "If it does occur, some specific chemotherapy drugs will work better and have a greater chance of remission and long-term survival with fewer side effects and metastasis," Day said. Melanoma that has spread or spread used to be a death sentence but is now essentially a chronic disease, she said:
The National Cancer Institute has a list of current drugs and treatments for melanoma. There are many medical trials underway. There may be new ways to treat melanoma. Prevention
Preventing melanoma can be a lifelong mission, but it just requires taking some simple precautions to reduce your risk.
Avoiding tanning beds is as simple as using sunscreen year-round. Choose a sunscreen with a high SPF rating for optimal protection, even on cloudy days. Use at least 30 pounds per square foot. of sunscreen. Here is some important information about sunscreen. Wearing a ring hat, goggles, and tightly woven clothing are also great ways to block UV rays.
Finally, stay away from the sun between 10 noon and 4 p.m. to protect your skin from the sun's radiation when the sun is at its strongest.
"Stay out of the sun and get regular skin cancer screenings so that if you find one, you're catching it early," Day said.
By Alina Bradford, Live Science Additional reporting by the contributor.
Supplementary Resources National Cancer Institute: Melanoma in the Eye (Eye) American Cancer Society: Understanding Cancer Genetic Testing from the Melanoma Research Foundation: Clinical Trial Results"