melanoma
The Basics of Skin Cancer Awareness
Millions are diagnosed with skin cancer each year and the median age is getting lower: people as young as 18 are getting diagnosed with skin cancer.
Three types of very common skin cancer are Basal Cell Carcinoma, Squamous Cell Carcinoma, and Melanoma. All of these are easily treatable, although if Melanoma is not detected early enough, it could lead to serious complications.
A few telltale signs of the common skin cancers should be considered before you come in for a diagnosis, since a painful skin biopsy is the only way to guarantee a diagnosis. For Basal Cell Carcinoma, be on the lookout for raised, smooth, pearly bumps around the head, neck, or shoulder areas. It often resembles a sore, but fails to heal. For Squamous Cell Carcinoma, look for red, scaling, thickening patches of skin in sun-exposed areas. Melanoma appears as dark, either brown or black, lesions. Be observant of any moles changing size, shape, elevation, or color.
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New Melanoma Diagnosis Technique Proves Significant
Melanoma is the most deadly variety of skin cancer. If not detected early, it becomes increasingly difficult to treat. In the past, ways to diagnose melanoma were limited – skin biopsies are standard practice, but patients have to be concerned enough about a spot on their skin to come in and see a doctor. A new technique using genetic markers is proving highly accurate, even in cases where traditional biopsies gave ambiguous results.
This new diagnosis technique emerged from researchers identifying around 1,000 human genes present in different stages of malignant melanomas as opposed to benign moles. These were narrowed down to five genetic markers showing higher activity in melanomas; using these as a base, previously diagnosed tissue samples of melanoma were examined and the result was clear: the melanomas had a statistically significant jump in protein production compared to benign moles, making this technique a reliable indicator of melanoma. The proteins themselves even showed different patterns of activity between the two types of tissue, creating a second, unexpected, diagnostic indicator.
The accuracy of this new technique is proven in research – 95% accurate in diagnosing benign moles and 91% accurate in diagnosing malignant melanomas. Hopefully, this new technique is researched further and if it holds up over time will be adopted by doctors worldwide. It would most certainly aid in making treatment options available for patients in as efficient a timeframe as possible.
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