Health Tips

What is melanoma?.
Introduction:
Skin cancer is the most dangerous types of skin cancer.

Skin cancer is the most dangerous types of skin cancer. It begins in skin cells called melanocytes.

Melanocytes are the cells that make melanin, which gives skin its color. Melanin also protects the deeper layers of skin from the sun's harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays.

When people spend time in the sun, melanocytes make more melanin in the skin causes the tan. This also occurs when the skin is exposed to other forms of ultraviolet radiation (such as in the tanning booth). If the skin receives a lot of ultraviolet radiation, may begin in the melanocytes grow abnormally and become cancerous. This condition is called melanoma.

How and where to show skin cancer?.
At the first sign of skin cancer and often change in size, shape, or color of the mole. But also skin cancer can appear on the new body as a guide.

* In men, skin cancer often appears in:
* In the upper part of the body, between the shoulders and hips
* In the head and neck

In women, and often develop skin cancer on the lower legs.

* In the dark-skinned, skin cancer and often look like:
* Under the fingernails or toenails
* At the palms of the hands
* On the soles of the feet

Although this is the most common places on the body for skin cancer to appear, they can appear anywhere on the skin. For this reason it is important to examine your skin to always check for new moles or changes in moles.
With early diagnosis and treatment, the chances of recovery are very good.

Melanoma Treatment :
Can be at an early stage of skin cancer is usually treated with surgery alone.

* The treatment for skin cancer depends on three factors:
* The person's age
* The public health of the person
* In the stage of the disease

Surgery is the treatment for all stages of skin cancer (A through IV). And the tumor is removed completely, with some surrounding tissue (usually about ¾ of an inch and one in each place). The surgery can be done by a dermatologist or surgeon, and that sometimes occurs as part of the diagnostic process. In some cases, may need to be a skin graft to replace skin that has been removed.

If skin cancer spread to nearby lymph nodes, may also be affected lymph nodes can be removed surgically.

Surgery is usually the only treatment to people with skin cancer early stage (thinner tumors that had not spread to lymph nodes). However, these people still need regular follow-up visits to the doctor, to make sure that skin cancer may not return and other moles that do not require biopsies.

Once a person who was skin cancer, there is a greater chance to get it again.

* In the later stage malignant tumors (thick skin cancer or those that have spread to nearby lymph nodes), may be needed in addition to other treatments surgery. This is called the "helper" treatments, and it may take the form:
* Immunotherapy
* Chemotherapy
* Radiation therapy

Skin cancer that has spread to distant sites in the body, or to other bodies (such as the lungs and liver) is known as the fourth stage. For these patients, there may be treatment options available, including clinical trials. Please discuss your options with your health care professional.
With early diagnosis and treatment, the chances of recovery are very good:
Chance of getting melanoma increases as you get older, but people of any age can get skin cancer. In fact, skin cancer is one of the most common cancers in young adults. Each year, more than 50,000 people in the United States learn that they have skin cancer.

Skin cancer is life, and sometimes a dangerous cancer. If it is found on skin cancer and treated in its early stages, the chances of recovery are very good. If not found early, skin cancer can grow deeper into the skin, and spread to other parts of the body. This is called the spread of metastases.

Once melanoma has spread to other parts of the body outside the skin, and difficult to treat.


Prevention of skin cancer:
The main cause of skin cancer is exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the radiation.

The best way to prevent skin cancer is to reduce the amount of time spent in the sun, especially at certain times of the day, and make sure that you are well protected when in the sun.

You can also do self-skin exam every 6 to 8 weeks. This helps to ensure that you find suspicious moles in early, have them immediately be verified by a physician.
Childhood is a time of particular importance for protection from the sun.

Protect the skin during the first 18 years of age can reduce the risk of some types of skin cancer by up to 78%. Learn more about the protection of children from the sun.


Melanoma diagnosis :-

I wonder if the mole or funny looking spot of skin is skin cancer? Melanomas usually look different than ordinary moles. The best way to find any suspicious moles on your body is to do self-examination of the skin. Click here to print skin self-examination guide.

If you notice the color of a mole that looks unusual or that have grown or changed in form or in the past few months, you must tell your doctor. If your doctor is also believed mole looks suspicious, he or she will refer you to a dermatologist), a doctor who specializes in diseases of the skin). And skin diseases may not biopsy. Dermatologist will remove a small piece of the mole or mole as a whole. A pathologist (a doctor last particular) then look in the sample under a microscope to make sure the cancer cells.

* If the mole shows that skin cancer, your dermatologist will need to know more about this disease, based on:
Q: How thick tumor
Q: To what extent has spread

This process is called staging. Staging and skin cancer is a very important step for the selection of treatment has a lot to do with the stage of skin cancer.

To find out how thick of skin cancer is, the dermatologist or surgeon will remove the tumor completely with some of the skin around it (if this were not done during the diagnostic). At the same time, or in a later step, you may not surgeon a procedure called sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy. This will help the doctor to know whether, where, and skin cancer spread.

* Other tests may also play a role in the staging.
These include:
* Blood tests
* Chest X-ray
* CT (computed tomography)
* Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
* Trial scanning (positron emission tomography scan)

After each impact of the tumor had been removed, you may see tumors, a specialist cancer. If the skin cancer has spread to other areas, or if there is a good chance of skin cancer could return, had tumors that describes additional treatment.

Typical steps in the diagnosis of tumors :
1

Find a suspicious mole or growth on your skin. You should notify your doctor.
2

The doctor you dermatologist, skin specialist.
3

Skin diseases and not excisional biopsy and send a sample of the growth to the laboratory. Forensic examination of the sample in a laboratory under a microscope to see if it is skin cancer.
4

If skin cancer, skin diseases and refers you to a surgeon or sentinel lymph node biopsy of SLN. (In some cases, the surgeon remove the tumor and to the entire SLN biopsy at the same time, combine steps 3 and 4).
5

If the dermatologist or surgeon has not yet been fully remove the tumor and some surrounding skin, that happens after that.
6

If tests showed that the tumor has spread to nearby lymph glands, the surgeon may remove those lymph nodes to help stop this cancer from spreading to other places.
7

If skin cancer spread to lymph nodes, may have further tests including: blood tests, ultrasound, chest X-rays, or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to see if the cancer has also spread to other organs .
8

After the completion of all surgery, the oncologist (a doctor who specializes in cancer) may prescribe other treatments. This is called adjuvant treatments, and they may be in the form of immunotherapy, chemotherapy or radiotherapy.