A melanoma can occur anywhere on the body, most commonly on the areas exposed to

the sun, such as the shoulders, head, trunk, or lower legs. If caught and treated early, it
can be easily cured. But it's dangerous if the cancer spreads to another part of the body.

Each year, about 91,000 people are diagnosed with melanoma, and more than 9,000
people die from it. Rates of melanoma are on the rise, especially among children and
teens.

Who's at risk for developing melanoma?

Older adults are most likely to get melanoma, but healthy young people can get it too.
You're at risk if:
1. you're fair-skinned or freckled, with blue eyes and light-colored hair
2. you work outside in the sun
3. your skin burns and doesn't tan
4. you've had bad sunburns in the past, even as a child
5. you have many moles, large moles, or unusual- looking moles
6. you or a close relative has had melanoma.
Treating melanoma
Melanoma can be cured if treatment is started early. When a melanoma lesion is
superficial, it can be fully removed without spreading to deep tissues and other
organs.
 
Surgery is usually the first and best treatment for melanoma. The goal of
surgery is to remove all the melanoma cells. The extent of the surgical excision
depends on the width and depth of the lesion. Wide excisions may require
reconstruction and/or skin grafting. Sentinel lymph node biopsy or lymph node
dissection is usually performed if the lesion is deep.
 
Adjuvant therapy (therapy in addition to surgery) is recommended for patients
whose disease has spread beyond the original lesion. Chemotherapy and
biological therapy can help kill any cancerous cells remaining in the body.
Studies have shown that with more advanced melanoma, some adjuvant
therapy has increased the time of disease recurrence but not overall survival
time. The best survival rates are found in patients who have diagnosis of
melanoma in the early stages and have had full surgical removal.
 
Radiation therapy usually isn't effective to treat melanoma. Palliative radiation
is sometimes used to reduce the symptoms of advanced disease. Patients with
metastasis to the brain, spinal cord, and bone may have some pain relief when
they receive radiation to those areas.

TITLE Patient Education: Melanoma