Melanoma

Overview

Melanoma- A deadliest and aggressive form of skin cancer that can happen in sun-exposed areas but it can also develop in the rest of the body. Melanoma can develop in nails, retina of the eye, soles or palms. It is necessary to get regular check-ups if an individual has a family medical history of melanoma. Not only sun-exposed areas or existing moles but the clear skin must also be examined for detection. Most melanoma cases come with a newly appearing mole with suspicious symptoms. Let’s delve deeper into the symptoms, how melanoma happens and how it affects the body, read to know more.

How does melanoma affect your skin?

Melanoma develops in the pigment-producing cells called melanocytes. These cells are responsible for producing melanin which gives colour to our skin, eyes and hair. Melanoma can impact and affect the skin adversely in various ways:

• Changes in an existing mole
• Asymmetry, irregular borders and colour changes
• Appearance of new mole or lesion
• Itching
• Thickness and invasion of moles
• Spreading of lymph nodes

Symptoms of Melanoma

The symptoms vary from person to person, so it’s important to know what your body is indicating, and some common symptoms and signs of melanoma include

• Asymmetrical shape
• Changes in colour
• Unusual border
• Variance in colour or discolouration
• Larger in size
• Changes in size, colouration or contour
• Redness or swelling that spreads to the surrounding skin
• An unhealing sore
• Itching around the affected area
• Colouring spreads to the surrounding skin

Every person might experience the same symptoms, many individuals might go through a completely different set of symptoms. Dermatologists follow the ABCDE (abbreviation) rule which stands for Asymmetry, Border, Colour, Diameter, and evolving respectively. Since the symptoms vary from person to person, many people can start noticing these symptoms at the earliest stages and most of them aren’t even aware of any of this.
Melanoma can’t be detected easily, and for that, an individual must be aware about certain symptoms your body is trying to tell you. There are potential signs that can help detect melanoma:

ABCDE Rule: This abbreviation states:
A-Asymmetry states that one half of the mole doesn’t match the other
B-Border irregularity states if the edges are uneven or blurred.
C-Colour variation states if there are any different shades of brown, black or other colours.
D-Diameter states if the size of the mole is larger than 6 mm
E-Evolution states any change in shape, colour, size of the mole or lesion over time.

Regular dermatologist check-up: Regular sun exposure must be dealt with constant check-ups and keeping a track of family history of melanoma is necessary if there is any.

Photographs: Keeping photos of your growing mole or lesion which is arousing suspicion can be really helpful in explaining the progress and growth of melanoma or other potential causes.

It’s essential to consult a dermatologist for deeper knowledge to clear out any suspicion. The tests and early diagnosis will help in providing immediate treatment. Since early intervention is important, it’ll be prudent to take the necessary steps to prevent any further risk factors.

Prevention for Melanoma

The risk of getting affected by melanoma is higher if you have a family medical history but preventive measures are always recommended to save an individual from the early influence and interference of melanoma in their life. Preventive measures include:

Using sunscreen: Using sunscreen and covering up your arms and legs during the mid-day sun will help in reducing the effect of sun, thus preventing melanoma. It is recommended to avoid peak sun hours for limited exposure.

Avoiding regular sun exposure: Regular exposure affects the skin which helps in the inflammation and flare up of this chronic disease. It’s advised to stay indoors and restrain sun hours from your schedule for protection.

Regular skin check-ups: Regular skin examinations will not only keep you updated but also provide a vivid knowledge of what your body is about to tell you via symptoms and the progress of suspicious moles or lesions. Knowing of your family history will help an individual to act immediately when they come across the symptoms related to melanoma.

Avoid using tanning beds or tanning lamps: Using faux tanning lamps can affect the skin, keeping it under the consideration of catching up with the risk of acquiring melanoma.

Avoiding sunburns: It is considered that sunburns increase the risk of developing melanoma. Dermatologists always advise to take preventive measures to escape sunburn.

Protecting your eyes: It is advisable to protect your eyes from intense UV rays by wearing sunglasses. An individual with a greater risk of developing melanoma must seek shade wherever possible, especially during the peak sun hours.

These possible preventive measures can help in reducing the impact of this chronic disease melanoma. Early intervention and detection are preferable for a successful treatment.

Causes of Melanoma

Melanoma can be caused by uncontrolled growth in the skin. The development is influenced by the various factors and genetics and environmental factors play a major role in the scenario. Key causes include:

UV rays exposure: Regular or overexposure to the sun or artificial sources such as tanning beds pose a risk factor for melanoma. Excessive sun exposure would increase the risk of melanoma.

Genetic factors: Genetic factors contribute to the risk of melanoma. Individuals with a family medical history of melanoma can influence melanoma in the body of an individual, making the immune system weak.

Location: Living in places where the sun exposure is really high can contribute to an increased risk of melanoma.

These factors are the bridging gap and influence the cancer to interfere with our day-to-day tasks. Early intervention and detection would help in curing this aggressive cancer at an early stage.

Stages
It’s necessary for an individual to know what stage of melanoma he/ she falls under. There are various stages in melanoma, but the early detected melanoma can be treated properly and is the easiest to cure. While it can become a part of your health at any stage knowing what stage of melanoma has caught you up is essential. Stages of melanoma include

Stage 0: This stage means that the cancer is found in the top layers of the skin and hasn’t spread to deeper tissues. It is often called melanoma in situ.

Stage 1: This stage suggests that the individual has a cancerous tumour which is less than 2 mm in thickness but is still confined to the skin and hasn’t spread to the lymph nodes or other areas.

Stage 2: This stage will suggest that the tumour may be:
2A- Between 1-2 mm thick with ulceration or 2-4 mm without ulceration.
2B- Between 2-4 mm and is ulcerated or is thicker than 4 mm without ulceration.
2C- the tumour is over 4 mm thick and is ulcerated.

Stage 3: This stage suggests that the tumour of size any size may or may not be ulcerated and can be under any one of the possible outcomes:
Lymph nodes can be joined together
Cancer has been found in lymph vessels between the tumour and the closest lymph nodes.
Cancer is found in at least one lymph node.
Cancer cells found more than 2 cm from primary tumour

Stage 4: This stage is the deadliest stage and is really difficult to impossible to cure. Cancer spreads to distant sites including soft tissue, bone and other organs.

The determination of the stages is necessary for doctors to prescribe suitable medications to the individuals. The customization of the treatments is the right approach and the identification of stages will be the best information for the individuals so that they can stay away from the causes of melanoma to prevent inflammation. The severity of melanoma must be kept under immediate consideration to provide effective treatment for the betterment of an individual.

Tests and Treatments for Melanoma

To understand what your body is trying to tell you, doctors will run certain tests to diagnose what the actual problem is. Your current symptoms will make an easy way for a dermatologist to identify the problem. The following are the possible outcomes to diagnose melanoma:

Skin biopsy: This type of test is considered the only way to detect melanoma. For a biopsy to take place, a sample of the skin is removed and is further sent for examination under the microscope. If melanoma is diagnosed through the reports, it is necessary to know the stage of melanoma.

Lymph node biopsy: The first step in the detection of melanoma comes under the role where the doctor may need to find out cancer cells that have spread across your body. For the surgery, a dye will be injected into the location of the tumour and it will flow towards the nearest lymph nodes naturally. The lymph nodes will be removed for testing.

Physical Examination: The doctors will run certain tests to diagnose melanoma due to suspicious mole locations and sizes of the moles. Usually, an individual has 10-40 moles in general which are half the size of an inch in diameter and have a normal colour and clear border. The examination will run across by examining the less obvious places such as the scalp, the genitals, between the buttocks, palms and under your fingernails, soles of your feet, between toes and under your toenails.

Blood chemistry studies: Blood tests are required to check the levels of an enzyme LDH (Lactate dehydrogenase) which is usually higher than normal when an individual is detected with melanoma.

Imaging tests: Imaging tests are performed to see if cancer has been spread beyond the skin to other parts of the body. Tests include:

MRI
CT scan
PET scan

Note: Doctors can also prefer using the ABCDE rule to figure out the symptoms and signs your body is trying to convey for early intervention and detection.

It’s important to focus that early detection is really essential for the immediate treatment of melanoma. Melanoma has great chances of healing when detected early and survival rates of melanoma range 99%, local melanoma is often detected amongst individuals and the chances of surviving it are high. While you can never eliminate the risk of acquiring melanoma it can be treated and can be kept under control.

Risk factors
There are many risk factors which can influence the development of melanoma. Risk factors include:

• Using tanning beds
• Having a family history of melanoma
• Getting sunburned frequently
• Having fairer or freckled skin
• Living in a location with excessive sunlight
• Weakened immune system
• Had skin cancer previously
• Having a large amount of moles on the body

It’s essential to be aware of these risk factors to take timely preventive measures such as having regular skin checks ups and keeping up with sun safety.

Treatment for Melanoma

The treatment of melanoma ultimately depends on the stages of the cancer, the immune system and the health factors of the individual. Here are the following treatment options for the individual:

Immunotherapy: This type of therapy is considered helpful to the immune system cells to find and finish/kill cancer cells. Immunotherapy caters to medicines which help the immune system to kill cancer cells. The immune system is the strongest due to therapy and can fight off diseases by attacking outside germs or other cells which aren’t a part of the body.

Chemotherapy: This type of treatment uses strong medicines to treat cancer. Many medicines are induced through veins and some are given via pill. During the chemotherapy procedure, the medicine isn’t allowed to travel to other parts of the body by stopping the blood flow and keeping the medicines in the melanoma-affected area, hence the medicines won’t affect other parts of the body as well.

Targeted therapy: This type of therapy uses medicines to attack specific chemicals in the cancer cells. These medicines block these chemicals, hence causing the cancer cells to die.

Radiation therapy: This type of treatment deals with powerful energy beams which come from X-rays, or other sources. The machine moves across your body and the machine throws light on the precise body points. Radiation therapy can help relieve melanoma symptoms and can be used to treat melanomas that can’t be cured easily from surgery.

Surgery: This method is used to remove the melanoma’s existence from the body. Small and thin melanoma can be easily removed from the surgery and the ones which grow deeper into the skin require other treatments to kill the active cancer cells and then the surgery is recommended. Lymph nodes are also removed via surgery.

Melanoma’s treatment is considered to start with the surgery but its alternatives involve radiation therapy and treatment with medicine. These treatment options include the optimum stage of an individual affected with melanoma. Regular check-ups are essential to track the signs of recurrence if there are any and it’s essential for an individual to take a safe path of immediate intervention to prevent potential side-effects and the risk of melanoma.