Here is an excellent melanoma skin cancer website for patients as well as physicians. It provides good information about risk factors, moles and nevi, development of melanoma, diagnosis, staging, and treatment.
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Think that mole is too small to be a melanoma? Think again.
How far away is your dermatologist? Farther distances lead to thicker melanomas.
Is it normal for moles to change during pregnancy? No.
A common screening measure for determining if a mole is skin cancer is if the size is larger than 6 mm in diameter. This corresponds to the size of a pencil eraser.
However, new research has shown that at least in one study 55% of the melanomas were actually smaller than 6 mm in diameter. Although the commonly cited ABCDE (asymmetry, border, color, diameter, and evolving) guide to determining if a mole is suspicious is helpful, it is imperfect.
Unfortunately, melanoma is actually becoming more common; in fact, according to the National Cancer Institute:
In the United States … the percentage of people who develop melanoma has more than doubled in the past 30 years.
The good news is that melanoma is the only deadly cancer that can be diagnosed just by examining the skin. If you have a new, changing, or suspicious mole, even if it is smaller than a pencil eraser, then have it checked as soon as possible by your dermatologist.
Even a small melanoma is a melanoma.
A recent study from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill published in the Archives of Dermatology showed that the farther a patient had to drive to get to a dermatologist, the thicker the melanoma at the time of diagnosis. They reviewed 615 cases of melanoma from patients in 42 counties in North Carolina and found that the thickness of the tumor (measured as the Breslow thickness) increased by 6% for every 10 miles traveled.
This is important because in melanoma, thicker cancers are more dangerous and more likely to have spread. Thin melanomas are usually cured by surgery alone; thick melanomas or metastatic melanomas are difficult to treat and can be life threatening.
Don’t let distance deter you. If you or a loved one has a new, suspicious, or changing mole, then hop in the car and have it checked. Even if you have to stop for gas on the way there.
