Melanoma for Dummies

Do yourself and others a favor. The next time someone tells you that they or a loved one have melanoma, don't reply with "Oh, that's just skin cancer". Not only is it rude but it shows that you are uninformed. Why? Because, Melanoma is not JUST skin cancer. Please read on.

Well, you might ask, if it's not just skin cancer, what is it?
What it is, my friend, is cells called melanocytes, gone south. In other words, become malignant or cancerous. Melanocytes are cells formed on the neural crest during fetal development and migrate to the skin, eyes and other places. That means that melanoma can occur wherever there are melanocytes and they function more as a nerve cell than a skin cell.
Melanocytes produce pigment producing melanin. Melanin is what protects you from damage due to excessive exposure to the sun and tanning beds. You know what? Excessive exposure to the sun, i.e. sunburns, etc. and tanning beds can damage those cells causing them to become malignant even years down the road.

What's so deadly about it? It will kill you, that's what's deadly about it. If not caught real early, that is, as in-situ, it can and will spread to such places as the lungs, liver, brain, bones, anywhere it wants to go. And it does it fast. There is no cure. There is no guarantee that excising an in-situ melanoma will mean you're home free. Get it once and you can get it again. Melanoma most commonly begins in the skin but, it can also begin in an eye. They call that ocular melanoma. Usually ocular melanoma spreads first to the liver.

So, you're thinking, "So what? It's pretty rare". NO IT ISN'T! Not rare at all. Not anymore. Since 1930 there has been a 2000% increase. There were about 105,750 new cases of melanoma in 2005 - 46,170 in situ (noninvasive) and 59,580 invasive (33,580 men and 26,000 women).* This is a 10 percent increase in new cases of melanoma from 2004.

* An estimated 10,590 people will die of skin cancer this year, 7,770 from melanoma (4,910 men and 2,860 women) and 2,820 from other skin cancers.*

* In 2005, at current rates one in 34 Americans have a lifetime risk of developing melanoma and one in 62 Americans have a lifetime risk of developing invasive melanoma.

* One American dies of melanoma almost every hour (every 68 minutes).

* More than 73 percent of skin cancer deaths are from melanoma. It can strike anyone, anytime. It can run in families. And it will kill.

* Older Caucasian males have the highest mortality rates from melanoma.

Thank you for reading.

By the way, the other "skin cancers"? . They are nothing to brush off lightly either.

Pete Tustison

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