Skin Cancer Treatment | Education | Skin Cancer Clinic | Sydney | Australia

Melanoma Treatment - Melanoma Skin Cancer

Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer and has been spreading like wild fire over the last decade. It is curable, but for melanoma treatment to be fully effective, early diagnosis is imperative. Melanoma treatment may take the form of surgery, chemotherapy in early stages, and biological or radiation therapies in extreme cases.

Melanoma takes on four forms. Both superficial spreading melanoma, the most common form accounting for 70% of all melanoma cases and lentigo maligna begin as flat or elevated irregularly shaped tan, brown or black patches.

Both these forms of skin cancer begin as localized tumors, but left untreated, they penetrate deeper and spread to other parts of the body. Acral lentiginous melanoma is a superficial melanoma common amongst Asians and African-Americans.

Nodular melanoma is the most severe form, beginning as invasive cancer and when malignant, shows a lump. It accounts for 10-15% of melanoma cases.

Prevention is always better than cure. Melanoma can be prevented by reducing the sun exposure, especially between 10am and 4pm with adequate clothing and sun blocks with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 15. Children are vulnerable to sunrays and it has been proved that juvenile sunburns greatly increase the risk of adult melanoma.

Melanoma remedy is most effective in the early stages. This means that you should be aware and alert about every symptom of the disease.

You should be especially concerned about your existing moles changing shape or color and of course, new ones appearing unexpectedly. Typical melanoma moles are lop-sided with irregular borders. Advanced melanoma moles have swellings, oozing, itching or bleeding.

Melanoma remedy varies according to the progression of the disease. Actinic Keratoses or sun damage leading to skin cancer can be treated by laser resurfacing, TCA peels or the application of Efudex cream.

In the early stages, surgery to remove the tumor and the adjacent healthy tissues is effective enough to destroy the metastatic cancer cells. The amount of tissue removed depends upon the spread of the cancerous growth.

Surgical melanoma remedy may also involve a skin graft to replenish the lost tissues. If the melanoma spreads to the lymph nodes, surgery may also involve removal of these.

Advanced melanoma treatment includes chemotherapy. This either involves the use of cancer drugs in capsule form or intravenous injections to kill the cancer cells.

Biological and radiation therapies are the last bastions of melanoma treatment. In the former, laboratory-generated cancer-combating substances called biological response, modifiers (BRMs) like tumor vaccines, interleukin-2, or interferon-alfa are administered to the melanoma patient.

Radiation therapy involves the use of x-rays to destroy cancer cells that have spread throughout the body. This form of melanoma treatment can last several sessions. Its side effects include topical redness, dryness and rashes, which disappear over time. However, changes in skin color and texture may occur after a few years.

Melanoma treatment should be undergone only under strict medical guidance to ensure complete remedy and prevent a recurrence.

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Why Visit a Dermatologist? - Skin Care and Acne Treatment

One of the most important steps in getting rid of acne is to consult a dermatologist. If you have acne and you are really serious about curing it, then you have to consider seeing a dermatologist. A dermatologist can simply be called a "skin doctor". Dermatologists are medical doctors that specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases and tumors of the skin care and its appendages. However before the visit go through the following.

A visit to a dermatologist will help to determine whether you have a mild or a severe form of acne. This is very important in the treatment of acne. A lot of frustrated acne patients that have been trying home cure methods are actually people with severe acne using home cure methods that are designed for mild cases of acne. Visiting a dermatologist will save you this frustration.

Being a bit informed about your history with acne will help your dermatologist to determine the best treatment to prescribe for you. For example -when did your acne start? Do you have a history of acne in your family?

Previous treatment - Have you been taking treatment and what have you used? Let your dermatologist know about any acne medication you have taken or still taking. Also inform him if you are taking other medicine like vitamins, contraceptives etc. This will help him/her to prescribe medication that will not have negative reaction with the ones you are taking.

If you have allergies of any type -medication allergies (oral and topical), or food allergies, let your dermatologist know. In this category are also physical conditions like high humidity weather, wearing hats, that trigger acne breakouts on your skin.

Your doctor is going to ask you a lot of questions. Make sure you answer them as accurately as you can. All these will aid your doctor in making proper recommendation for the cure of your acne.

You will be given medication and instructions not only for the medicine but for the general care of your skin. Ask as many questions as you need to be sure that you understand every instruction you are given.

Skin Cancer Awareness

Each year in the UK, there are more than 65,000 new cases of non-melanoma skin cancer and more than 8,000 new cases of malignant melanoma. Skin cancer is becoming more widespread: the number of cases has doubled in the past 20 years. In fact, there are more skin cancer deaths in the UK than in Australia, even though Australia has more cases of the disease.

There are three main types of skin cancer: basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma , and malignant melanoma. Malignant melanoma is the most serious type of skin cancer because the cancer can spread to other organs in the body (metastasis). Melanoma skin cancer is usually pigmented or coloured and is more dangerous. Many moles aren't cancerous, but it's vital to keep an eye on them.

A range of treatment options have proved successful in treating skin cancer. But about 1,800 people still die from malignant melanoma skin cancer annually. Treatment may include surgical removal, chemotherapy, radiotherapy or biological therapy, depending on the type of skin cancer. When skin cancer is found early it is much easier to treat. If diagnosed late, treatment is not usually able to cure the cancer.

Malignant melanoma is more common in women than men, is one of the most common cancers in people aged 20 to 35 and affects people who work indoors more than those who work outside. Non-melanoma skin cancer affects men more than women, as well as older people, particularly those who have spent much time working outdoors. Too much sun exposure and getting sunburnt in childhood and the teenage years can lead to skin cancer in later life, so children in particular must be protected.

Those most at risk of skin cancer are people with light or fair skin, freckles, who burn lobster red in the sun, already have moles and/or spend too long in the sun without protection. Brown- or black-skinned people rarely get skin cancer, but everyone should be careful. There are some rare, inherited skin diseases that make people highly sensitive to sunlight and much more likely to get any type of skin cancer.

As it's not always possible to differentiate between skin cancers and benign skin conditions by examination alone, you may need to have a biopsy. If it's confirmed as cancer, it'll be removed by surgery or radiotherapy, depending on its size and type.

Melanoma Skin Cancer Treatment

Melanoma is a kind of skin cancer. It starts in the melanocytes. Here certain cancer cells appear in skin cells. This is known as melanocytes. To start with it might just be a small mole. It may also occur in the eye and intestine or any other part of the body. The symptoms of melanoma are that the color of the mole would change, it might bleed, it might not have regular border, it might be scratching, etc.

It is best to get melanoma treatment in the beginning of the disease itself. There are various methods to treat melanoma. The methods are surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and palliative care. A good way for melanoma treatment is surgery. Here the tumor is removed and so also is a tiny region from the skin which is normal. In the beginning stage just a biopsy can cure melanoma. After a surgery a skin grafting is done if necessary to cover the wounded part of the skin. After this melanoma treatment painkillers would be given in order to reduce the pain. It will take some time for the wound to cure and the skin grafting to look normal as any other part of the skin.

Radiotherapy is also a fine method of melanoma treatment. Here x-rays are used in order to destroy cells that cause cancer. This method is opted when the cancer is in the inner portion of the body. This is a long melanoma treatment might stretch up to many weeks. After radiotherapy the patient might have nausea or headaches or even redness in the skin. There might be a burning sensation a good cream that is recommended by the doctor can be used for this.

Melanoma treatment can also be done by chemotherapy. Here certain anti-cancer drugs are given in order to reduce the growth of the cancer cells. These drugs at times can even cure melanoma. This method is also opted when the cancer is found in an organ within the body. This method of melanoma treatment would take around six to twelve months. The effects of this treatment may be vomiting, tiredness, depression, loss of hair etc.

Palliative care can also be used to cure melanoma. This is done when there is no cure and the cancer has increased. Here all that can be done is to reduce the pain caused by cancer. The doctor normally prescribes drugs that can help to reduce the pain. This should be done for all cancer patients. Melanoma treatment is best when done early.

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