Understanding Malignant Melanoma Essay

     Distinguishing melanoma may seem hard to do, but is not so once a person is informed on what they should be looking for. They may appear similar to moles, and may be blue or black in color. Though they will usually lack the symmetry and border regularity of a common mole, and may have variance in their coloring. Melanomas can either appear suddenly, or develop slowly near a preexisting mole. In rare cases, melanomas may form on top of previously formed moles or birthmarks, but will also come with the effects of pain, itching, or bleeding. These moles may begin to exhibit new and/or strange characteristics such as

It develops in the melanocytes, which are cells that produce melanin that gives the skin its pigment or color and protects tissues from ultra violet radiation. Dark skinned people have more melanin than light skinned people do. For this reason, Melanomia is more frequent in light skinned people. (“Detailed description “, 2000, P.2

In 1992 there were approximately 62,000 cases of melanoma diagnosed and around 6,700 deaths. Each year, over 55,000 people get diagnosed with melanoma in the United States (Altman).

Unlike other cancers which we can develop, melanoma can often be detected on the skin which allows doctors to treat it at its early stages resulting in less complications and lower death rates to patients, again if left undetected at its early stages this can easily spread to distant areas and distant organs. Once melanoma has spread to other areas of the body which is classified as stage IV it is diagnosed as

Most skin cancers occur as the result of damage or malformation to the DNA within the cells of the epidermis. DNA instructs the cells as to how to reproduce, and in the event that the DNA becomes compromised the oncogenes, which control the growth and survival of cells, may become disrupted. When this occurs, tumor suppressor genes, which slow down cell growth, can be shut off. This will cause new cells to grow rapidly and old cells will not be destroyed. The result will be the formation of a mass or tumor.

Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer. It develops when unrepaired DNA damage to your skin cells trigger genetic defects that lead you skin cells to multiply at a fast pace and form tumors. Melanoma can often resemble moles and some can come from previous moles. These melanoma moles can range in color from pink, red, brown, purple, white, blue and skin-colored, but more mostly seen as black or brown. It’s said that consumers who use indoor ultraviolent tanning devices are seven-four percent more likely to develop melanoma compared to someone who has never used a tanning bed before. Melanoma is usually caused from intense and over exposure to UV radiation. It has be estimated to kill around 10,000 individuals in the U.S. each year. The lifetime risk of melanoma is 1.5 times higher in males than in females. Melanoma is curable, if it is recognized early and

Melanoma is a dangerous invasive cancer which starts in melanin producing cells (melanocytes) usually located at the bottom of the skins epidermal layer. Although certain individuals have a genetic propensity for melanoma, it is usually triggered by excessive UV exposure from sunlight or tanning beds (Mayo Clinic, 2016a). At early stages it is relatively easy to treat, however, recurrences are common. At later stages melanoma treatments are less effective since it tends to metastasize and spread easily through the lymphatic system (Mayo Clinic, 2016a).. The root cause of malignant melanoma is due to mutations in the p53 gene protein which invariably leads to further mutations.

Like most diseases there are treatments and drugs used to treat the cancer. These treatments include chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, medicinal therapy used to target specific cells, and biological therapy used to help strengthen the immune system. Medicine that is used during the stages of melanoma are “Vemurafenib (Zelboraf), dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and trametinib (Mekinist) are targeted therapy drugs used to treat advanced melanoma.” (Mayo Clinic Staff 2016). More test such as biopsies are taken after targeted therapy to analyze how well the drugs are helping diminish the cancerous

Melanoma is a malignant condition arising from melanocytes in the basal layer of the skin. Melanocytes are the cells that produce melanin, which gives skin its pigmentation and shields the deeper layers of skin from the damaging effects of ultraviolet radiation. When skin is exposed to ultraviolet radiation, melanocytes increase their production of melanin, which generates darker pigmentation of the skin. Ultraviolet radiation stimulates malignant changes within the melanocytes by mutating DNA, stimulating cutaneous growth factors, decreases immune defenses, and promotes species of melanin that cause DNA impairment and suppress apoptosis. The abnormalities caused by ultraviolet radiation in the melanocytes predispose it to

Melanoma is the most serious type of skin cancer. You can get melanoma from the sun, it can be genetic or from tanning beds. Melanoma is mostly on skin, but also found in eyes, under nails, and sometimes found in organs. It’s increasing to a lot of people under the age of 40, especially women. Melanoma can be in many places. Next, the sun and tanning bed increase your chances

Malignant melanoma is the most commonly seen skin cancer and it has the highest number of deaths among diseases of the skin (Friedman, Rigel, Kopf and Polsky, 2005). Among the many factors that cause this cutaneous cancer genetic modifications, viruses, carcinogens and excessive exposure to ultraviolet rays are the most commonly occurring (Friedman, Rigel, Kopf and Polsky, 2005). Malignant melanoma affects all areas of the skin and the disease forms in melanocytes, which are the cells in which pigments (melanin) are synthesized (Melanoma Treatment). The cancer has its origin in the epidermis and affect squamous and basal cells. The disease usually affects the trunk, arms and legs but can also be present in the eye, affecting the

Melanoma is a serious type of skin cancer, causing up to 75% cancer-related deaths and is usually occurs due to exposure to UV rays of the sun. The chances are increased with sunburn episodes especially during childhood. It developed from the pigment cells known as melanocytes, a layer of cells producing melanin which protects against the damaging rays of the sun. Sometimes, these pigment cells increase in size and become cancerous melanoma. It didn’t show any particular symptoms, however, it is related to the changes associated with moles, gives ‘ABCDE’ warning signs i.e. Asymmetry, irregular Border, uneven Colour, Diameter, evolution.

Skin Cancer is the abnormal division of skin cells which cause tumors in the body. There are 3 types of Skin Cancer: Melanoma, Basal cell carcinoma, and squamous cell carcinoma (Web Md, year). Skin cancer is caused by the exposure of ultraviolet radiation and UV-like factors (Skin Cancer Foundation, 2015). This paper focuses on a specific type of skin cancer called Melanoma.

1. Light-colored skin and a history of sun exposure is the main cause of this type of cancer. Men are affected more often than women.

To sum up, cancer is one of the most serious diseases worldwide that has many kinds. The most serious kind of cancers is skin cancer. Melanoma is a severe kind of skin cancer that begins anywhere on the outer skin in cells which called melanocytes. Melanoma begins usually on the legs and on the trunk. There are several basic kinds of melanoma. For example, nodular melanoma, acral lentiginous melanoma, superficial spreading melanoma, and lentigo maligna melanoma. Melanoma has five various stages, which are stage zero, stage one, stage two, stage three, and stage four, and all these stages are categorized according on some criteria. Melanoma's causes are mainly separated into two different categories which are non-inherited and inherited causes.