Lee Jordan .org.uk

So what is Melanoma?
This type of skin cancer is attributed to “binge-exposure” to Ultra Voilet (UV). Intermitent exposure over a number of years can lead to this developing in the background of someones life without them knowing. Simply put Melanoma can be the result of the body’s UV protection system getting out of control in specific locations usually sun exposed areas of the skin. Melanoma usualy develops around new or existing moles, due to over production of “pigment producing” cells.

So what causes Melanoma?
Predominatly it’s the sun’s UVA (A for Aging is the easy way to remember) but it’s not only the sun that causes Melanoma nor is it one sunburn that triggers it and there are some complex situations behind the development of Melanoma, usually binging out on UV is a common risk. Tanning beds are also triggers for any type of skin cancer. Melanoma can either arise from lifestyle choices (skimpy clothing, holiday locations, forced tanning, accidental burning, longer outdoor activity), family history or in my case just plain bad luck.

A false sense of security can be based upon sunscreen and cloudy summer days, UV can be reflected into shaded areas and reflection is a major issue within built up areas. Thining ozone may allow more UVA and UVB rays through from the sun, UVC the ultra harmful rays are completly filtered out by the atmoshpere and it’s important not to assume that environmental damage has caused an increase in the illness. Melanoma can develop in the eye, so it’s a good idea to check that your sunglasses filter UVA and B, as too should your sunscreen. Some nightclubs and even theme park rides use UV tubes for atmospheric effects

What are the bodies defences?
When sunburn or even tanning occurs, skin will normally start to peel after a length of time. This peeling process is the first sign of the body fighting an over exposure, by way of trying to remove cancer causing cells from the skin before any lasting damage can set in. Unfortunatly the treatment of peeling is to supress it, peeling is a natural reaction, if it happens it should be encouraged and should serve as a reminder to be more careful. There are tumor supressing genes, but unfortunalty these genes can go wrong and gene defects can be inherited so it’s a good idea to be aware of your first degree relatives moles as well as your own.

Who is at risk from Melanoma?
Not only humans of course and in fact Melanoma has been dated back to pre-historic times. Being involved in outdoor activity between the hours of 11am and 3pm significantly increases risk factors because the sun it at it’s strongest (hotest) when directly overhead.

Fair skinned people (not linked to hair colour), people who predominatly work inside or away from the sun or people who had a faulty gene sequence passed on from either parent, are more vunerable to Melanoma. People who usually work inside and get exposed to sunlight through outdoor activities during the peak sunlight hours, take a holiday in the sun or at high altitude are at an increased risk. Tanning beds are a risk too and that radiation isn’t spread over a beach. The older the bulbs the more UV they emit. Unfortunatly by the time a person is 18 years of age, enough damage to the skin has been done to trigger all sorts of skin damage later in life, including wrinkles, a bid to “get beautiful” or look atractive quickly can backfire drastically. Some sun is healthy and vital to the development and vitality of skin. Perversly over exposure to the sun before diagnosis of Melanoma may actually help the body fight it, this is cause of much controversy.

What are the warning signs?
Because I was without proper information the moles that were found to be tumors went unnoticed for years.

Moles are an inevitable part of life and can be caused simply by getting older and can be caused by diet and evrionmental factors, but moles can be triggered by the over production of melanin (pigment) in one area and this leads to moles that may develop into Melanoma.

The best way of detecting Melanoma is through checking moles for what’s known as the ABCDE’s:

• Asymmetry - One part of the mole gets suddenly larger on one side to make it appear lopsided
• Border - The outside edges of a mole become irregular, notched or angular
• Colour - Variations in colour, some areas of the mole appear darker than the other, if the mole contains blue or peal grey areas see a GP without hesitation, it will save your life
• Diameter - The width of the mole or size suddenly increases in diameter and is much larger than before over a short period of only a few months
• Elevation - Mole has become raised. Also E for “Evolving”, any itching, scabbing or bleeding is an extreamly obvious warning

Any mole with these signs should be flagged up. There is no certainty with this illness, early on there is no illness or symptoms to speak of and that’s why checking out everything is important because Melanoma develops over a long time period that can slip under the radar of even the medical profession.

So how does the ball getting moving on this?
Usually you’ll flag up a concern with a GP who would send you to have an expert check, and if a mole is of great concern it will be removed and checked out, results come in fairly quickly, but if Melanoma is found from these tests further surgery and a lot of worry and confusion will ensue. Melanoma increases in seriousness with “depth of invasion”, the skin is made of layers, kind of like protective hulls around a ship. There are other types of skin cancer but Melanoma is unique in the sense that it generally likes to dig deep into the layers of the skin fairly quickly.

A mole that only showed signs of early Melanoma is known as a “Melanoma in-situ”, usually not needing that much attention, this is the stage where everyone should idealy be coming in under diagnosis, but until awareness of the ABCDE’s is increased actual cancer is where people will come into “Malignant Melanoma”, that is that the mole contains cancer and has evolved into a tumor that usually remains local to the area.

There are various stages within Malignant Melanoma, depending upon how deep the mole had grown inwards, treatments can vary from surgey to clear the area of cancer cells, then moving onto further treatments including the helping of the immune system fight the cancer cells to various drug treatments and radiation treatments. If teh Melanoma is too far advanced it may be incurable.

But why is it so dangerous?
Put simply Melanoma doesn’t sit there and do nothing, if left long enough it can gain access to the lymphatic system and draw its own blood suply, it can spread to distant locations including moles that were close to the original tumor and eventually it can end up in any organ of the body, inlcuding the liver, the lungs, the brain and even bones. Metastatic Melanoma or the potential for that kind of spreading is what makes the illness so troublesome and different from the other forms of skin cancer. If left long enough it can and unfortunatly does kill, currently to the tune of a 1500 deaths in the UK a year. Austraila has the worst problem with Melanoma, due to population migration and climate, the USA and even Norway are also having serious rises in cases.

Checking your moles and being sensible about the sun and telling other people what you have just read is a major step in increasing awareness about Melanoma. Always be wary of changes in moles after a holiday or the summer months, new moles are a fact of life but any kind of mole or newly developed blemish that does actually bleed or has the ABCDE signs should be checked out.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 4th, 2005 at 11:28 pm and is filed under Melanoma. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.