The Dangers of Melanoma
- Caitlin Jones’ husband is a foot taller than her. While looking down on her head, he found a mole that looked suspicious.
- After a biopsy of the mole, Jones discovered she had melanoma and had to have an area of her scalp the size of a tennis ball removed.
- UV radiation exposure from the sun or tanning beds can increase your risk of developing melanoma.
Jones had an atypical mole on her scalp that had been previously biopsied in 2016, so she didn’t think of it often. But come April 2020, her husband looked down upon her head and noticed the mole was changing. Despite her reluctancy to visit a doctor during the pandemic, Jones gave in to her husband’s pleadings and went to see her doctor.
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Jones wasn’t worried about her chances of cancer, but she did have a fair amount of ultraviolet radiation exposure over the years. Working as a lifeguard during her teens and using a tanning bed until her early 20s, Jones put herself at an increased risk for melanoma.
Luckily, Jones’ treatment was successful and the biopsy of her lymph nodes came back negative for cancer. As for the spot on her head, doctors used skin from her groin for a graft to mend the area removed that was about the size of a tennis ball.
Jones had another surgery to reduce the graft and scar, and a potential third surgery could come after she gives birth to her first baby in August. But overall, Jones is doing well and grateful that a bald spot on the top of her head has been the worst thing from her treatment so far.
“Perspective is everything,” Jones said. “I’ll take a bald spot over chemotherapy or worse… you can’t take anything for granted."
Understanding Melanoma
Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that starts in the same cells that give your skin, hair and eyes their color. But melanoma causes the cells to change in a way that makes them able to spread to other organs.
Changes to a mole you've had for a while or a new growth on your skin could be signs of melanoma, according to SurvivorNet's experts. Often times these spots on our skin are harmless, but like Jones can attest to it’s important to keep an eye on them and contact your doctor if you see any changes or find a growth anywhere on your skin that looks suspicious.
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."
The Risk of Tanning Beds
The temptation of achieving that summer “glow” might seem irresistible, but health experts warn that you'd be wise to avoid tanning beds.
“Studies have shown that exposure to tanning beds increases the risk of skin cancer and ocular cancer,” says Dr. Lynn A. Cornelius, chief of the division of dermatology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. “It also induces changes that lead to premature aging of the skin. There is no 'safe' tanning bed.”
Dr. Anna Pavlick from the Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone Health echoed Dr. Cornelius’ statements by explaining that tanning beds increase your chances of melanoma "exponentially."
Tanning Salons Pose a Big Risk of Melanoma, Says Leading Expert
"We know there is a direct correlation with [melanoma] patients who go to indoor tanning salons," Dr. Pavlick tells SurvivorNet, who notes that the exposure "is about 6 inches from your body."
The sun is millions of miles away when you’re on a beach, "so you have to think of the intensity that you're exposing your skin to when you go to a tanning salon," she says.
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