Other names for this cancer include malignant melanoma and cutaneous melanoma. Most melanoma cells still make melanin, so melanoma tumors are usually brown or black. But some melanomas do not make melanin and can appear pink, tan, or even white.
Melanomas can develop anywhere on the skin, but they are more likely to start on the trunk chest and back in men and on the legs in women. The neck and face are other common sites. Having darkly pigmented skin lowers your risk of melanoma at these more common sites, but anyone can get melanoma on the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, or under the nails. Melanomas in these areas make up a much larger portion of melanomas in African Americans than in whites.
Melanomas can also form in other parts of your body, such as the eyes , mouth, genitals, and anal area, but these are much less common than melanoma of the skin. Melanoma is much less common than some other types of skin cancer. In other cases, they likely happen as the result of exposure to an outside cause.
For example, ultraviolet UV rays are clearly a major cause of melanoma. UV rays can damage the DNA in skin cells. Sometimes this damage affects certain genes that control how the cells grow and divide. If these genes no longer work properly, the affected cells may become cancer cells. Most UV rays come from sunlight, but some can come from man-made sources such as tanning beds.
Some DNA damage from UV exposure might happen in the few years before the cancer appears, but much of it could be from exposures that happened many years earlier. Children and young adults often get a lot of intense sun exposure that might not result in cancer until many years or even decades later. What it looks like: It may appear as a flat or slightly raised and discolored, asymmetrical patch with uneven borders. It can also lack pigment and appear as a pink or skin-tone lesion amelanotic.
What you should know: This form of melanoma often develops in older people. When this cancer becomes invasive or spreads beyond the original site, the disease is known as lentigo maligna melanoma.
How and where it grows: This form of melanoma is similar to the superficial spreading type, growing close to the skin surface at first. The tumor typically arises on sun-damaged skin on the face, ears, arms or upper torso. What it looks like: It may look like a flat or slightly raised, blotchy patch with uneven borders.
Color is usually blue-black, but can vary from tan to brown or dark brown. What you should know: This is the most common form of melanoma found in people of color, including individuals of African ancestry. How and where it grows: It often appears in hard-to-spot places including under the nails and on the soles of the feet or palms of the hands. What it looks like: It may appear as a black or brown area.
Musician Bob Marley was diagnosed with acral lentiginous melanoma, which ultimately claimed his life at age When a dark spot appeared under his toenail, Marley attributed it to a soccer injury. Eventually he was diagnosed with the disease but was not treated.
His melanoma spread to other areas of his body and tragically cut his life short. What you should know: This is the most aggressive type of melanoma. It accounts for 10 to 15 percent of all cases.
How and where it grows: The tumor grows deeper into the skin more rapidly than other types and is most frequently found on the torso, legs and arms, as well as the scalp in older men. It is usually invasive at the time it is first diagnosed.
What it looks like: Nodular melanoma is often recognized as a bump on the skin, usually blue-black in color, but not uncommonly can also appear as a pink to red bump. Reviewed by: Allan C. Halpern, MD Ashfaq A.
0コメント