The skin contains a number of specialized cells that provide a barrier separating the internal tissue from the environment. Among the cell types that make up skin are melanocytes, pigment cells that produce the protein melanin, which provides the...
Melanoma is a cancer of specialized cells called melanocytes, which help make up tissue within the skin, brain, eye and intestinal tract. The cells generate a protein called melanin, which acts as a pigment to lend a tan or black appearance to...
Melanoma cancer is a disease in which skin cells that color the skin, called melanocytes, become infected with malignant cancer cells. As the largest organ of the body, the skin protects against sunlight, injury, infection and heat. Melanoma is...
Melanoma is cancer that develops in skin cells called melanocytes, the cells that contain pigment, according to the National Cancer Institute. Once cancer has been diagnosed, it is staged. Staging is a standardized system that describes the spread...
Melanoma is the rarest type of skin cancer, but, according to the Melanoma Center, it is also the most fatal. It develops in skin cells called melanocytes, which make melanin. Melanin gives color to parts of the body such as skin, eyes and hair....
Melanoma is a type of skin cancer. While it is one of the deadliest forms of cancer, it is also one of the most treatable. Most melanoma is first diagnosed by a change in the color or shape of an existing mole or skin lesion. If a melanoma is not...
Malignant melanoma, or skin cancer, forms in the cells of the skin that create pigment in the hair, skin and eyes. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, melanoma strikes all age groups, but heredity plays a role in terms of the risk of...
Stage III melanoma is usually initially treated via surgical removal of the tumor. Stage III melanoma is usually removed using a process called wide excision. Side excision takes away more healthy tissue than other surgical strategies in order to...
Stage IV melanoma occurs when the cancer spreads beyond the skin to another area of the body. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, the most common sites of melanoma spread include other areas of the skin, lung, liver, brain and small...
Melanoma is a very dangerous form of skin cancer that readily spreads via lymph nodes to other parts of the body. Melanoma originates in the melanocytes, the cells that produce pigmentation or coloring of our skin, hair and eyes, according to the...
Malignant melanoma is a type of skin cancer that arises in melanocytes, the cells that produce melanin, or skin pigment. Melanoma is less common than other types of skin cancers, but it is more likely to spread to other areas of the body,...
The progression of cancer--skin cancer included--is organized by stages. Doctors use stages 0, I, II, III and IV to describe how invasive a person's cancer has become. These stages help doctors and health care providers to communicate easily the...
Black mole cancer, or melanoma, develops due to the abnormal growth of cells called melanocytes. These melanocytes form a component of skin and contain high amounts of a protein called melanin, which gives the cells a black or darkened color....
Skin, the body's largest organ, provides protection, regulates temperature, retains water, produces vitamins and hormones and allows sensory perception. Skin consists of three layers; epidermis---the outer layer, dermis---the inner layer and...
Surgical excision, the first step in treating melanoma, works well for many patients in the early stages of melanoma, the deadliest of all skin cancers. The surgery is an outpatient procedure usually performed in the doctor’s office....
The epidermis is the outer layer of skin consisting of three types of cells. Melanocytes are one of these cell types, and they are located at the deepest part of the epidermis, according to the National Cancer Institute. Melanocytes make the skin...
More than 68,000 Americans are diagnosed each year with melanoma, according to the American Cancer Society, which notes it is the deadliest type of skin cancer. It begins in melanocytes, the cells responsible for producing melanin which gives the...
Melanoma is a type of cancer that arises from cells known as melanocytes. Melanocytes secrete melanin, which is a pigment that protects skin from the sun and is responsible for tanning. Melanoma typically results from the melanocytes becoming...
Staging is done by gathering information regarding the thickness of the skin cancer tumor, the depth of the penetration of that tumor and the degree to which the skin cancer has spread and categorizing your disease process as a stage--I through...
Melanoma is a type of cancer that starts in the melanocytes of the skin. Melanoma is one of the deadliest forms of skin cancer, but it is also one of the most curable if it is caught early. There are several things that put people at risk for...
Stage IV melanoma consists of cancer that has spread from the skin to other parts of the body. The top five sites of common spread, according to the American Academy of Dermatology, include other areas of the skin, lungs, liver, brain and small...
Malignant melanoma, the most advanced stage of melanoma, develops from mutations to melanocytes. These specialized cells can be identified by the production of melanin, a black pigment protein. Melanocytes are abundant within the skin but are also...
Melanoma skin cancer is a cancer that begins in a specific type of skin cell known as melanocytes. These skin cells are responsible for producing melanin, which gives the skin its color. The American Cancer Society explains that melanoma tumors...
Advanced melanoma usually refers to melanoma that has spread to another part of the body or recurs following initial treatment, according to CancerHelp UK. Although melanoma represents the deadliest form of skin cancer, improved treatments...
Skin cancer is the most common cancer and is easily treatable if the cancers are basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas. But melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer even though it appears painlessly from cells producing melanin, the pigment...
Moderate exercise can be beneficial for melanoma patients during treatment. However, long-term, vigorous exercise could increase your risk of developing melanoma, especially when exercising outdoors, according to a 2006 article in U.S. News &...
Stage IV melanoma is diagnosed when the melanoma has spread from the original site to distant parts of the body; stage IV is classified as having a tumor with lymph node involvement and a metastasis. After evaluating the metastases with CT, MRI...
A functioning immune system can distinguish itself from all foreign substances that invade the body. It can also destroy abnormal cells of the body. Thus, a weakened immune system raises the risk of developing disease and even the risk of death....
Melanin is a natural pigment that gives people their skin color. If too much melanin is produced in one area, hyperpigmentation or a "brown spot" can occur. Brown spots can be flat or raised, round or oval, and can appear anywhere on the skin,...
