Melanoma Essay

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Melanoma
Melanoma is the most dangerous of skin cancer. Melanoma is complicated from how it happens, the signs and symptoms, causes, risk factors and treatment. There are so many types of cancers, but Melanoma is a cancer that you do not hear of as often.
Melanoma starts in the melanocytes. Melanocytes are the cells that make the pigment melanin according to (www.skincancer.org). Cancerous growths can develop from UV lights and the sun. A source of UV lights would be tanning bed. These sources caused cells to trigger mutation. The trigger mutations cause genetic defects. Genetic defects leads to skin cell multiply and form malignant tumors.
The tumors can be multiply colors such as black, brown, pink, red, purple, blue and white according to (www.skincancer.org). “These tumors orginate in the pigment producing melanocytes in the basal layer of the epidermis”. Stated by (www.skincancer.org). If the tumors can be recognized early they are more likely to be treatable. Some people are not as lucky and it spreads throughout the body, and this makes it harder to treat the cancer. According to (www.skincancer.org) “120,000 new cases of melanoma in the United States are diagnosed in a year. In the year 2010 about 68,130 invasive melanomas, with about 38,870 in males and 29,260 in women.”
Melanoma develops in areas that are more exposed to the sun. Melanoma can also occur in areas such as feet, palms of your hands and fingernail beds. This is less likely, but most often occurs in people with darker skin. (www.mayoclinic.org). One of the first signs of melanoma is a change in an existing mole or sometime of unusual growth on your skin. (www.skincancer.org) explains the ABCDE signs of a mole. A is for Asymmetry. The way to determine thi...

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...is, for the physician will perform surgery to remove the cancer. Stage 1 will also need surgery, may also need sentinel lymph biopsy and interferon.
Stage 2 will need surgery, sentinel lymph node biopsy and interferon after surgery. Patient may also be considered for a clinical trial. Stage 3 patient will receive surgery, interferon, possibly radiation and or chemotherapy. Immunotherapy may also be performed.
Stage 4 consists of surgery, radiation, immunotherapy, chemotherapy. Patient may also be considered for a clinical trial. Patient may decide to stop treatment.
Melanoma is a serious cancer that needs to be monitored. Melanoma is complicated from how it happens, the signs and symptoms, causes, risk factors and treatment. Knowing the signs and symptoms can help detect the melanoma early to help prevent the cancer spreading and treatment to be started.

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