Understanding Melanoma

Chad Hall Comm 1020 Research and Written Speech

Make sure you take the time get to know your mole.

We all need to know the dangers of Melanoma

Credibility
I am a person who cares and is concerned about my skin.

So what exactly is Melanoma

! It is the most Dangerous form of Skin Cancer ! Its a cancer that develops from unrepaired skin cells

It all starts at the Melanocyte Cell

So what exactly are the causes and risk factors.

!!The main cause is from UVA & UVB rays from exposure to the sun and tanning beds or sun burns. !!Skin types, Moles, Personal History, weakened immune systems are all factors that help lead to melanoma

So for those of us who live in this great state of Utah: We live at a higher altitude, and enjoy all varieties of the 4 seasons. Most of us lose our skin color in winter months, then we tend to want to get our skin color back in the summer. In doing so we get sun burned, that is when the damage is begins.

They have came up with a new staging system to help classify the severity of the cancer.

These are Stage IA and IB

Survival rate of a stage IA Melanoma

!!5 years is around 97% !!10 years is around 95%

Survival rates of a stage IB Melanoma

!!5 year is around 92% !!10 Year is around 86%

Those stages were the good news if you have Melanoma

These are Stages IIA to IV

Here are there survival rates

!! IIA 5 years 81% 10 year 67% !! IIB 5 year 70% 10 year 57% !! IIC 5 year 53% 10 year 40% !! IIIA 5 year 78% 10 year 68% !! IIIB 5 year 59% 10 year 43% !! IIIC 5 year 40% 10 year 24% !! IV 5 year 15-20% 10 year 10-15%

So what are the ways you can prevent Melanoma

!! Get in the shade, stay out of the sun from 10am to 4pm. !! Utilize sunscreen SPF 30 or stronger and reapply. !! Self examination is crucial from head to toe. !! Visit your Dr yearly. !! Get to know your mole. !! Know the A,B,C,D and Es of Melanoma

Asymmetrical jagged edges

Borders are uneven

Color is inconsistent

Diameter is not consistent

Evolving they will change quickly

Closing

Questions

Bibliography
Websights !! Skin Cancer .org !! Cancer.gov !! Cancer.org !! Cdc.gov Books Libraries ! Human Biology, SLCC Library ! Campbell Essential Biology, UVU Library

Quotes/Paraphrases
We live at a higher altitude, and enjoy all varieties of weather. Most of us lose our skin color in winter months. Then we tend to want to get our skin color back in the summer. Most of us tend to get sun burns, this is when the damage is done.

Chad Hall