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Melanoma - Skin Cancer (Diagnostic Tests (A - ASYMMETRY …
Melanoma - Skin Cancer
Diagnostic Tests
Melanoma is diagnosed after excision in 8.2% of atypical intraepidermal melanocytic proliferation (AIMP) samples. (Blank, 2019).
:red_flag: Early diagnosis is the best method to improve melanoma prognosis (Corneli, 2018).
Diagnostic Tests: skin exams and biopsy. :warning: A biopsy can can be a
punch
biopsy,
excisional
biopsy, or
incisional
biopsy.
A -
ASYMMETRY
B-
BORDER
C-
COLOR
D-
DIAMETER
Asymmetry - one side is different from the other
Border - irregular, notched, blurred
Color - mixed
Diameter - > 6 millimeters
Common Findings
Age ≥ 60 years, head/neck location, clinical lesion partially biopsied, and lesion extending to deep biopsy margin. (Blank, 2019).
Pathophysiologic Etiology
Cutaneous melanoma is the sixth most common malignant cancer in the USA.
(Corneli, 2018).
Melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer, develops in the cells (melanocytes) that produce melanin — the pigment that gives your skin its color. Melanoma can also form in your eyes and, rarely, in internal organs, such as your intestines.
The exact cause of all melanomas is not very clear or well known, but exposure to UV radiation from
sunlight
or
tanning beds
increases
your risk of developing melanoma.
:check:Limiting your exposure to UV radiation can help reduce your risk of melanoma.
Causative Factors
Fair skin, sunburns, excessive UV exposure, having many moles or unusual moles, family history, or weakened immune system.
Risk Factors
Common risk factors are environmental and life styles: exposure to UV radiation, family history of melanoma, immune suppression, fair skin and inability to tan easily, hypersensitivity to sunlight, blue eyes, blonde and red hair (Allam, 2015).
:warning:Presence of 2 risk factors
increases the risk of cutaneous melanoma by 2–4 times
:warning:presence of 3 or more risk factors increases the risk
by 20 times (Allam, 2015).
Treatments
Early stage melanoma: surgery to remove the melanoma. :!: Early treatment options for melanoma therapy focues on the use of
cytokines
as a means of stimulating the
immune
system
(McGettigan, 2018).
:!: Treating melanoma that has
spread
beyond the skin: surgery to remove affected lymph node, chemotherapy, radiation, targeted therapy such as medications.
Pictures
Immunity
Melanoma is one of the most immunogenic tumors (Passarelli, 2017)
The immune system plays a
critical
role in controlling the
tumor progression
of melanoma (Passarelli, 2017)
Melanoma has long been considered an immunogenic cancer (McGettigan, 2018).
