Melanoma is a serious skin cancer, generally caused by sun damage. Learn more about melanoma skin cancer in this video.
A common cancer
May be melanoma
May require surgery
Avoid sun damage
Avoid tanning beds
Jeffrey E. Lee, M.D. received his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth in biochemistry and then followed that up with his M.D. at Stanford University of Medicine in California. He fulfilled his residency in general surgery at Stanford, and pursued his fellowship at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas in surgical oncology. He is now professor of surgery at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
JEFF E. LEE, MD: My name is Dr. Jeff Lee from the Department of Surgical Oncology at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, and I would like to share with you information on melanoma. Melanoma is the sixth most common cancer. There will be nearly 60,000 cases of melanoma diagnosed in the United States this year. Melanoma is most common in individuals with fair skin, although it also is important to understand that it occurs in all racial and ethnic groups. Melanomas are usually diagnosed when they're quite small, often half-an-inch or less in diameter. When we look in a mole and try to judge whether it might represent a melanoma, we use the ABCDEs. So, melanomas that are asymmetric, if they were folded in half, one-half would not match the other half; melanoma moles that have border irregularity so they have Coast-of-Maine appearance as opposed to a Coast-of-California appearance; moles that have color variation that have areas of blue-brown or black within the same skin spot, moles that have a diameter of greater than 6 mm, the head of a pencil eraser, or moles that show enlargement that change or bleed. These would all be indications that a mole might be cancerous and would be indications for biopsy. Most patients will be cured by relatively simple surgery. The standard treatment for patients with what appears to be a localized melanoma generally includes a procedure that we call wide-local excision, which is a removal of the biopsy site along with a margin of normal skin. For patients with melanomas that are considered serious enough that they might have spread to lymph nodes close to the area where the melanoma started, we would also generally recommend that patients undergo a procedure called lymphatic mapping and sentinel lymph node biopsy. This is a procedure whereby we can identify and remove lymph nodes that are closed to the area where the melanomas started, that are most likely to contain spread if there has been any spread. In most cases, removal and examination of those lymph nodes will identify no evidence of spread of melanoma. In some patients, there will be microscopic evidence of spread to their lymph nodes and those patients are at high risk for having their melanomas comeback after surgery and we generally recommend more aggressive treatment in that situation. Most patients will be cured after surgery but we still recommend lifetime followup for anyone who has had a melanoma.
Many melanomas can be prevented. We think it's important to limit sun exposure since sun exposure especially blistering sunburns can contribute to the development of melanoma. We think it's important that patients avoid tanning baths since these can contribute to the development of melanoma. It's important to limit sun exposure during peak times of the day especially between 10:00 o'clock in the morning and 3:00 o'clock in the afternoon when the sun's rays are the most intense. It's important to cover up and it's helpful to remember that blue jeans for example, have an SPF factor of more than a thousand. It's important to use enough sunscreen and reapply it regularly. So these are things that everyone can do that can reduce the risk of developing skin cancers including melanoma.
