Melanoma is a skin disease where cancerous cells grow in the melanocytes, the cells that generate skin color. Melanoma is either known as malignant melanoma or cutaneous melanoma.
Of all types of skin cancer plaguing mankind, melanoma is considered the most serious. The epidermis, or the topmost layer of the skin, contains three types of cells liable to become cancerous. Those are squamous cells, basal cells and melanocytes. Squamous cell cancer and basal cell cancer are known as non-melanoma skin cancers. They are more widespread than melanoma. Melanoma, which is relatively less common than the other two, is indubitably more serious and complicated to treat than either squamous cell cancer or basal cell cancer.
Though it is normally found in adults, melanoma can be sporadically spotted in children and young people. The cancer generally grows in an already existing mole or a new mole that appears on the skin. Men commonly get melanomas on the area between the hips and the shoulders, the neck or the head. Women, on the other hand, contract the disease mostly on the arms of the legs. In exceptional cases, it can grow in body parts that are not covered by the skin, such as mouth, eyes, large intestines or vagina.
Melanoma can be cured if diagnosed early. Unlike other types of skin cancer, however, it can rapidly reach other parts of the body through the lymph system or the blood. Melanoma is responsible for about 80% of deaths occurring from skin cancer, although it constitutes less than 5% of all skin cancer cases. In the United States, the reported number of melanoma cases is growing alarmingly.
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Malignant Melanoma
10 August 2010 8:30 PM |
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A melanoma is a cancerous tumor that starts in melanin-generating cells (color-giving pigment). Once thought of as a rare disease, the yearly frequency of melanoma has increased noticeably. Extreme exposure to sun is one major reason for contracting this disease. People who regularly expose themselves...
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Melanoma
10 August 2010 8:30 PM |
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A melanoma is a malignant tumor that originates in melanocytes, which are cells responsible for generating melanin (pigment that gives color to skin, hair and eyes and is strongest in moles). Melanomas, therefore, are generally brown or black. Sometimes, melanomas stop generating pigment. In such...
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Nodular Melanoma
10 August 2010 8:30 PM |
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The awareness of the dangers of skin cancer, particularly melanoma, has doubtless increased. Still, the most fatal form of melanoma is frequently left undiagnosed in the fledging stages. Nodular melanoma is the most serious and life threatening form of skin cancer, constituting around 35% of...
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Skin Cancer Symptoms
10 August 2010 8:30 PM |
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Skin Cancer is a malignant neoplasm of the skin and unless diagnosed and treated timely could prove to be fatal. It is important that an individual is able to recognize the signs and symptoms of skin cancer so that a doctor is contacted on time....
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Non Small Cell Lung Cancer
10 August 2010 8:30 PM |
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Approximately 80 percent of people with lung cancer have non-small cell lung cancer. Depending on the type of cancer cell present, non-small cell cancer is in turn divided into several subtypes. Squamous cell carcinoma begins in thin, flat surface cells that line the respiratory tract,...
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Ovarian Cancer
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Ovarian cancer begins in the cells that form the ovaries. Among these cells are surface epithelial cells, germ cells, and the sex cord-stromal cells. This is why cancer cells that metastasize from other organ sites to the ovary are not called ovarian cancer. Breast and...
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Lung Cancer
10 August 2010 8:30 PM |
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Lung cancer is the most frequently lethal cancer in the United States. Among all causes of death, lung cancer ranks second after heart disease for males, and third after heart and cerebrovascular disease for females. In 2002 alone, over 150,000 people in the United States...
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Colon Cancer Treatment
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Colon cancer is a very dominant kind of cancer that has an occurrence rate only second to lung cancer. Research has been done for several years in an attempt to find treatment methods for colon cancer. Today, there are three common kinds of treatment for...
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Thyroid Cancer
10 August 2010 8:30 PM |
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Thyroid cancer develops as a result of the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the thyroid gland, resulting in a tumor. Some of these tumors are benign or non cancerous while some are malignant or cancerous. The malignant tumors spread to the nearby tissues and...
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Lung Cancer Treatment
10 August 2010 8:30 PM |
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The most commonly used treatments for lung cancer are surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. The exact treatment a lung cancer patient receives will depend on several factors. These include the type of cancer, the stage or extent to which it has spread at the time of...