Melanoma Causes, Types, Symptoms & Treatment

What is melanoma?

Melanoma is a cancer that develops in melanocytes, the pigment cells present in the skin. It can be more serious than the other forms of skin cancer because of a tendency to spread to other parts of the body (metastasize) and cause serious illness and death. About 50,000 new cases of melanoma are diagnosed in the United States every year.

Because most melanomas occur on the skin where they can be seen, patients or their spouses are often the first to detect suspicious tumors. Early detection and diagnosis are crucial. Caught early, most melanomas can be cured with relatively minor surgery.

This article is written from the standpoint of the patient. In other words, instead of describing the disease in exhaustive detail, the article focuses on answering the questions: “How do I know if I have melanoma?” and “Should I be checked for it?”

Spots on the skin

Guideline # 1: Nobody can conclusively diagnose him- or herself. If someone sees a spot that looks as though it is new or changing, he or she should show it to a doctor. When it comes to spots on the skin, it is always better to be safe than sorry.

Everybody gets spots on their skin. The older we are, the more spots we have. Most of these spots are benign. That means they are neither cancerous nor on the way to becoming cancerous. These may include freckles, benign moles, collections of blood vessels called cherry angiomas, or raised, irregular, pigmented bumps on the skin called seborrheic keratoses.

Moles

Guideline # 2: The vast majority of moles (melanocytic nevi) stay as moles and do not turn into anything else. Most melanomas do not arise in preexisting moles. For that reason, having all of one’s moles removed to “prevent melanoma” does not make sense.

Some people are born with moles (the medical name is “nevus,” plural “nevi“). Almost everyone develops them, starting in childhood. On average, people have about 25 moles, though some have fewer and others many more. Moles may be flat or raised, and they may range in color from tan to light brown to black. Moles may lose their color and end up flesh colored. It is unusual to develop new pigmented moles after age 35.