What is melanoma?
Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that often appears as a change in an existing mole. This mole can change in shape, size and often the
border will take up an irregular shape.
Symptoms:
-new mole or change of an existing mole (change in shape/size/colour)
-often appears in areas more exposed to the sun
-unusual changes in skin
-some rarer types of melanomas can affect eyes, soles of feet, genitals and the palms of your hands
-moles with different colour variations in them
-large moles
-mole that is bleeding, crusty, itchy or swollen and sore
Causes/reasons why people are more susceptible to melanoma:
-overly exposed to UV rays in sun/sunbeds
- age (more common in older people although younger people can still get it)
-pale skin that burns easily in the sun
-a lot of sunburn before
-over use of sunbeds
-large number of freckles and moles
-history of skin cancer in your family
Testing for melanoma:
If you think you have melanoma or any other type of skin cancer you should go to your local GP. The GP will refer you to a specialist (usually a dermatologist) to test you for skin cancer if they think you have it.
The specialist may examine your skin with a magnifying glass to look more closely at the concerning area. The specialist may also cut out the mole and some skin around it to send to a lab to be checked for cancer. This is called an excision biopsy.
Treatment:
Melanoma skin cancer is often treatable, but this depends on your general health, where the cancer is and if its spread anywhere else around the body.
Surgery is the main treatment for melanoma especially if it is found early on. If the melanoma is on a visible area such as your face a plastic surgeon can try and make the area look as good as possible after surgery. However, if a large area of skin needs to be removed because of the cancer, skin may be taken from another part of the body to cover the area where the melanoma was. This is known as a skin graft.
In some cases, if surgery is not adequate as the person is too ill/cancer has spread too much, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and medicines can be used to treat melanoma skin cancer.
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