How To Prevent And Treat Melanoma 

Chevy Chase melanoma is a severe skin cancer developed in the melanocytes that produce melanin (a pigment that gives color to the skin). Patients often observe changes in the existing mole, and the pigment is not the same at each point with an irregular border.

Patients can use the acronym ABCDE for differentiating the mole that later differentiates into the melanoma. 

• A represents asymmetry in shape. 
• B represents an undefined border. 
• C represents the change of the color
• D represents diameter 
• E represents the evolution of the mole.

Prevention:

Specific preventive measures can be used against melanoma. 

• Use sunscreen: Applying sunscreen daily on the skin helps prevent damage to the skin from the UV rays. 

• Protective clothes: Wearing sunglasses, a hat, or sun-protective clothes helps protect the body against harmful ultraviolet radiations. 

• Avoiding the use of tanning beds: Indoor tanning increases the risk of melanoma. Melanoma is the most common cancer diagnosed in young adults.

• Avoid weakening of the immune system: Consuming a diet rich in macronutrients and micronutrients helps the body’s immune system fight against the cancer-causing agent and decreases the risk of getting melanoma.

• Avoid moving out in the sun during the middle of the day: The sun’s rays are strongest between 10 AM and 4 PM for people staying in North America. Patients can prevent this time of the day and reduce exposure to UV radiation. 

Treatment:

Depending on the type of melanoma, different treatments are provided to the patient. However, the most common form of treatment is removing the melanoma surgically. 

• Patient having melanoma at Stage 0: In this stage, melanoma does not penetrate deeper into the skin and stays on the layer of the skin. Patients are advised to take wide excision surgery in which a small amount of normal skin along with the melanoma is removed from the affected region.

• Melanoma at stage 1: The doctor recommends sentinel lymph nodes biopsy to check if the melanoma has penetrated the lymph nodes. If yes, then surgical removal of lymph nodes is preferred, and if not, the patient is recommended chemotherapy. 

• Melanoma at stage 2: Surgical treatment is used in this stage. If the melanoma has mutated in the BRAF gene, there will be a probability of melanoma coming back. 

• Melanoma at stage 3: At this stage, the cancer cells have already reached the lymph nodes, and surgical removal of these nodes is the preferred option. 

• Melanoma at stage 4: In this, the melanoma migrates to distant lymph nodes or other areas of the skin. Then the doctor recommends radiation therapy to remove the cancer cells.