Understanding Melanoma
- Christy Brookes-Parry first noticed a new mole on her thigh when she was pregnant with her youngest son. Five years later, she was diagnosed with stage two melanoma after visiting her doctor because the mole started rapidly changing on an island vacation.
- Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that starts in the same cells that give your skin, hair and eyes their color. Ninety percent of melanomas are caused by ultraviolet radiation from the sun, so it’s important to protect your skin with things like sunscreen and clothing.
- Paying attention to moles or growths on your skin is an easy way to look out for melanoma since changes to a mole you’ve had for a while or developing a new growth you don’t remembering having on your skin could be signs of of this cancer, according to SurvivorNet’s experts.
Brookes-Parry, 42, first saw the new mole on the inside of her thigh when she was 36 and pregnant with her youngest son.
Read MoreFast forward five years later, and Brookes-Parry started to notice the mole had “grown rapidly” and changed shape and color by the end of a family trip to the Canary Islands.
“My mum lives in Lanzarote and when we went to visit her for six weeks last August she told me I should get the mole checked,” she said. “At the start of the holiday, I covered the mole with circular plasters but by the end it had grown so rapidly that the plasters were no longer big enough so I made an appointment with the GP as soon as I got back home.”
In October 2021, Brookes-Parry has the mole removed. But complications from the operation caused internal bleeding that left her feeling very unwell. She received her official diagnosis, stage two melanoma, just over two weeks later. She had her lymph nodes removed at the end of November, but she eventually discovered that they had caught her cancer before it spread.
“I found out on Christmas Eve that the cancer had not spread and that the doctors had managed to get all of it,” she said. “As you can imagine, that was the best Christmas present I could ever have asked for. I was meant to get the results on January 5 but my doctor rang me to say he couldn’t let the results wait until then.”
Brookes-Parry will be going for check ups every three months for the next three years, but she is doing well now and adapting to some necessary lifestyle changes.
“I’ve been told now that I need to completely avoid the sun from 12-3pm, wear a minimum of factor 30 sun cream at all times and make sure I’m covered when I’m out,” she said. “It’s something I’m conscious of all the time now, living with skin cancer. It can affect people of all ages, though to be diagnosed at 42 is relatively young, so it’s important for people to keep an eye on their bodies.”
Understanding Melanoma
Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that starts in the same cells that give your skin, hair and eyes their color. The American Cancer Society estimates that about 99,780 new melanomas will be diagnosed in the United States in 2022.
And while the ACS says the risk of melanoma increases as people age with the average age of diagnosis being 65, the disease is not uncommon among those younger than 30. In fact, it’s one of the most common cancers in young adults (especially young women).
The disease can develop from an existing mole or appear as a dark or pink growth on the skin even in places on the body that never see the sun. It’s also known to be the deadliest form of skin cancer.
“Melanomas are the deadliest type of skin cancer because they have a tendency to spread to other parts of the body,” explains Dr. Anna Pavlick, a medical oncologist with Weill Cornell Medicine who specializes in treating skin cancer.
Paying Attention to Your Skin
Keeping an eye on the moles or growths on your skin is an easy way to keep an eye out for melanoma. Changes to a mole you’ve had for a while or developing a new growth you don’t remembering having on your skin could be signs of this cancer, according to SurvivorNet’s experts.
Examining Your Skin for Melanoma Remember ABCDE
Dr. Cecilia Larocca of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute gives SurvivorNet an overview of things to look out for with moles using the ABCDE self-screening method:
- Asymmetrical moles: “If you drew a line straight down the center of the mole, would the sides match?”
- Borders that are “irregular, jagged, not smooth.” It can also stand for bleeding.
- Colors: “Multiple distinct colors in the mole.”
- Diameter: “Larger than 6mm, about the size of a pencil head eraser.”
- Evolution: “This may be the most important,” she says. “Anything that is changing over time such as gaining color, losing color, painful, itching, hurting, changing shape, etc.”
Spots on our skin are often harmless, but it’s still important to keep an eye on them and reach out to your doctor if you see any changes or find a growth anywhere on your skin that looks suspicious.
Protecting Yourself from Melanoma
Ninety percent of melanomas are caused by ultraviolet radiation from the sun. This means excessive time in the sun – even as a child – puts you at a higher risk.
Top 5 Ways to Protect Your Skin From Skin Cancer
In a previous interview with SurvivorNet, Dr. Dendy Engelman from MDCS Dermatology in New York shared the top five things you can do to avoid skin cancer:
- Avoid sun during peak hours, which is 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Wear a wide brimmed hat and sunglasses to protect the tops of our heads, the tops of our ears and the delicate area around the eye.
- Wear at least SPF 30 sunscreen and make sure to reapply every two hours or after excessive sweating or swimming.
- Have yearly skin checks (with a professional), because it’s difficult to evaluate areas all over the body.
- Avoid tanning beds. There are no “good” tanning beds, and they can significantly increase your risk of melanoma.
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