Summer and the risk of melanoma

There are three main types of skin cancer: basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma. Melanoma is less common but is more likely to spread to other parts of the body than the other two types. Melanoma is more common in adults, but it has also been reported in children and adolescents.

Signs of melanoma detection

Melanoma is curable if caught early, so knowing how to detect it early is very important. There are 4 types of the disease as follows:

Malignant mole: The disease starts with a dark patch, gradually spreading, and gradually darkening after a few years. It is often found on the cheeks of women over 40-50 years old. However, the disease can still occur at any age, both sexes. Because the lesion progresses slowly, the color darkens slowly, so it rarely attracts attention, until it turns into invasive cancer, the patient knows. If the mole suddenly increases in size, increases in hardness, increases in skin darkness and especially bleeds, it is a sign of deterioration. The process of turning from a mole to cancer is from 1-30 years and when it has metastasized, it is very difficult to treat.

Unusual moles are a sign of skin cancer.

Extensive superficial melanoma: This type of cancer has many colors: black, red, brown, green, white. The surrounding lesions are often concave and convex; the surface of the tumor is rough and uneven, especially on lesions that have appeared for a long time. Compared to malignant moles, this type of disease progresses much faster. Dangerous symptoms are easy bleeding, skin erosion, ulceration. The tumor will develop horizontally, widen to the sides, and after a few years it will penetrate the dermis and it can turn into a nodular melanoma.

Nevillous melanoma of the limbs: Appears in areas such as the palms, soles, joints of the fingers and toes. This form of the disease is intermediate between malignant moles and diffuse superficial melanoma, a rare disease that does not invade over a long period of time. The characteristic is that the tumor has an irregular shape, spreads quickly, often in the palms, soles, nail beds, heels, fingertips, and nail edges. If the tumor changes color to light brown or dark brown, it is necessary to do a cancer test immediately. The final stage of this type of tumor often turns into a lump or ulcer.

Nodular melanoma: A hyperpigmented nodule, varying in size, persisting for months or years, protruding above a malignant mole or an extensive melanoma or an acral melanoma. It changes in size, increases in color, bleeds, oozes clear fluid, forms a tumor, ulcerates, or creates pigmented macules in the vicinity (called ink spots). Initially, the tumor is 1-4 millimeters in diameter, they will gradually grow larger, are not uniform in color, some are brown, blue-black or black, and have a pitted surface. When this pigmentation change lasts for several months, the tumor increases in size and bleeding appears.

Treatment

There are many methods for treating skin cancer, but currently surgery still plays a major role. To close the damaged skin after surgical removal of the tumor, people often combine it with plastic methods such as skin flaps, separate skin grafts, and muscle flap rotation. Surgery: tumors less than 3cm in size are removed to a 4mm margin combined with skin flap surgery. For tumors larger than 3cm, the margin is removed to a 4mm margin. If there are lymph nodes, lymph node dissection or combined with radiation to the lymph node area.

Moles show signs of cancer.

How to prevent disease

Skin cancer can be prevented with the following measures: Use broad-spectrum sunscreens with an SPF of 30 or higher and reapply after every 3 hours of sun exposure. When using spray sunscreen, hold the nozzle 1cm away from the skin to ensure even spraying and full coverage. Limit or avoid going out in the sun at its peak, between 11am and 2pm. When going out, wear a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses. Do not tan (artificially or naturally). Because when the skin is tanned, UV rays have damaged the DNA, thereby sending signals to the skin to produce and transport melanin to the surface to protect the skin from continued damage caused by UV rays. The signals that make the skin tan are changes at the molecular level that can cause skin cancer.