Melanoma Cancer Information

Question: Information on Squamous cell carcinoma, Basal cell carcinoma, and Melanoma? I need information on those three types of cancer and these are the questions I need answered about each one: What skin layers are affected? (such as epidermis and dermis) How is it treated? (any pills, special surgery?) Thanks for everyones help!

Answer: All of the malignancies you have mentioned are known as skin cancers. Basal Cell carcinoma usually involves the superficial layers (epidermis) of the skin and, if caught early, the treatment is removal of the lesion at the doctor's office under local anesthesia and follow up visits to see if any other suspicious lesions show up.If subsequent lesions are found a series of radiotherapy treatments is performed. Squamous cell carcinoma also arises on the epidermis but from the squamous cells. Since these cells are located deeper it can spread to the dermis and if left untreated it can eventually erode into the fat, muscle and bone; it literally "eats" away those tissues leaving the bone exposed {that's why it's also called "rodent ulcer"}. Early treatment is the same as Basal cell {surgical excision}, or the use of a topical cream {Aldara}. Once it reaches fat and muscle, treatment consists of radiotherapy followed by intravenous chemotherapeutic medications. Melanoma is by far the deadliest of skin cancers; it arises from the melanocytes which are the pigment-producing cells. This type of skin cancer tends to quite quickly metastasize to the bones, lymphatic system and eventually to distant organs like the lungs and brain. As soon as diagnosed, the lesion{s} are excised, aggressive radio and chemotherapy is started in an effort to prevent or halt further metastases. Although the main cause of all skin cancers is exposure to UV rays from sunlight or tanning booths, they can sometimes turn up in the most unlikely of places, In March of 2007 I was diagnosed with Basal Cell Carcinoma in my vulva {I don't do nude sunbathing nor use tanning booths}. The lesion was excised after six months of my Gyno having misdiagnosed it as a genital wart and treating it as such, which only worsened the situation. In this case a medical malpractice suit is under way.

Question: Dinovite for dog with cancer!? My golden retriever has melanoma cancer, she hasn’t been eating her dog food, but will eat soups and rice... she sometimes throws her food up, I took her to the vet today and they said that the cancer MAY have moved into the body, although they didn’t do any blood work or x-rays... so im sure they aren’t for sure, my dog really isn’t herself, I read about dinovite, and it seems like it may help my dog, has anyone ever used this supplement on their dog suffering from cancer? please give me any information!

Answer: Sorry, I can't too excited about this product. A lot of hype but if you look at the ingredients, you'd be just as well off feeding a fish oil capsule and live culture yogurt or any one of the dog paste that reinoculate the gut with good bacteria. The price is very high for this product and from one report, they do not stand behind their return/ refund policy. http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/224/ripoff0224405.htm I would spend my money of feeding the best diet I could afford to give my dog's body all the natural fighting ammunition he requires. Ask your vet about making a vaccine from the melanomas. I know they have been working on this at the vet Universities.This would be vaccine specific to your dog only.

Question: Melanoma's in miniature Schnauzers... any information? My 12.5 year old miniature schnauzer had a lump on his front leg that was removed, sent for testing and turned out to be a malignant melanoma. However, he went under a second operation to remove any remaining cancerous tissue. the tests said that at the bottom of the initial lump there were practically no cancer cells. Has anyone had any sort of experience with skin melanoma's being malignant in dogs? Can you give me your opinion??

Answer: Malignant melanomas in dogs are very difficult cases. I haven't seen many dogs that the cancer hasn't already spread to other areas of the body, like lungs and/or lymph nodes. I would STRONGLY recommend your pet undergo another surgery to remove a larger area of tissue. The tumor must be 100% removed to ensure it does not spread further. The pathologist report of "practically no cancer cells" is just as good as saying "too bad you didn't get it all". This link has some pretty good information. Good luck. http://www.thepetcenter.com/exa/mel.html

Question: I have a cancer question? My Great Aunt was recently diagnosed with stage three melanoma cancer in her ankle, how serious is this? im not sure of progression or how far it has spread but i would like as much information as possible. i tried google but i couldnt find much thank you !

Answer: I am sorry to hear about your aunt's diagnosis. Melanoma is divided into stages by numbers and letters. The letters refer to tumor type (T), lymph node involvement (N), and whether it has metastasized (M). From that, the doctor decides the stage by number. For stage III, the 5-year survival rate ranges anywhere from 68% to 27%, depending on what sub-stage the melanoma is. The 5-year survival rates refer to the percentage of patients who live at least 5 or 10 years after being diagnosed. Many of these patients live much longer than this. You can learn more about melanoma through the goverment's cancer website, cancer.gov. Here is a direct link to the melanoma section: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/melanoma And the American Cancer Society's section on melanoma: http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/CRI_2_1x.asp?dt=39 Good luck to your aunt.

Question: Cousin with Cancer? I have a cousin and he was diagnosed with melanoma Cancer when he was 23 I believe. He is now 25 and not doing too good. Anyone have any information on the disease?

Answer: It is a long battle and I feel bad for him. Just help him to stay comfortable.

Question: Why does the McCain campaign resist a full disclosure of his Medical Records? With the information that McCain is being treated for Melanoma ( Skin Cancer) and since it is a life threatening condition, wouldn't it be prudent to let us know if the President Elect is expected to live out his term in office or, that he may well be replaced by his surrogate VP ? There was an ad on NBC which called for a release of medical records and it was "pulled" when Bill O'Reily and Limbaugh complained about it.

Answer: My theory, and this is just a theory, is I wouldn't be surprised if McCain has been treated for metal health problems as well. Especially because of his POW years. True, a lot of people have, but that would look really bad for him. Or it could be the cancer thing too. Who knows.

Question: Melanoma on the bottom of my foot? It started as a mole on the instep near my heal and grew darker and larger over the last few years. I saw a Dermatologist today who cut it out immediately and said he was fairly certain it was a melanoma; further that this is the most deadly form of skin cancer. As I await the biopsy results, I need to know more about what this means as far as treatment, spread?, stats, etc. Any helpful information?

Answer: You will get to know where you exactly stand on receiving the biopsy result. Only if confirmed it is Melanoma then treatments can start. Firstly a dermatologist is not enough to treat the disease. You have to consult an Oncologist preferably of Surgical. The course of treatment has to be decided on getting the confirmation about the stage and grade of the disease. All usual treatments for any cancer - Surgery, Chemotherapy, Radiation Therapy may be given depending on the position. Surgery: Complete surgical excision with adequate margins and assessment for the presence of detectable metastatic disease along with short and long term follow up is standard. Chemotherapy: Various chemotherapy agents are used, including dacarbazine (also termed DTIC), immunotherapy (with interleukin-2 (IL-2) or interferon (IFN)) as well as local perfusion are used by different centers. They can occasionally show dramatic success, but the overall success in metastatic melanoma is quite limited. Radiation therapy is often used after surgical resection for patients with locally or regionally advanced melanoma or for patients with unresectable distant metastases. It may reduce the rate of local recurrence but does not prolong survival. On the whole it is curable and proper treatment methods are only to be adopted. BEST OF LUCK AND WISHES FOR EARLY RECOVERY.

Question: Skin cancer question? Ok, so I have this mole kinda near the top of my chest and I have looked at skin cancer and melanoma facts and everything is fine, it's small, circle, it's one color brown but the thing is, around my mole, the skin around my mole has changed color to a light brown, I remember that is wasn't like this so at the doctor's I asked her about it and she looked at it and said it was normal. But researching here on the internet, there was this one place where it mentioned possible melanoma if the skin around the mole changes color, and mine is light brown, it's not all around the mole, just on two sides. Since I only saw this on one site, I am wondering, if this bit of information true? Like I said, everything is normal but around it there is a light brown color now. I am 17 and is that a good age to go see a dermatologist?

Answer: u should...before it gets worse

Question: Need information about foot amputation? My brother and I live close to each other, but haven't spoken in almost 15 years. (He is a very conservative cop and I am a very liberal schoolteacher) He is a loner and has few friends. Suddenly, I found out he is going to have his foot amputated and now he wants a relationship, and my support. He tells me he is losing his foot for the same reason Bob Marley did, cancer, melanoma. I need to know what I am getting into. Will he need to stay at my house or his house? How long will he be in the hospital? How long until he gets a prosthetic foot? What sort of things will I have to do? I guess he will need a wheelchair. Can he take a shower? Will I have to give him a sponge bath? How long until he is on crutches? My brother and I don't get along, but for religious reasons, I feel obligated to help him. But I want to know how much of a commitment this will be. Will I be able to get him out of my house in a month? Less?

Answer: This is an enormous and open-ended commitment. Your brother will be incapacitated and may have post-operative complications. Don't make a promise that you can't keep and have him relying on you, full well knowing that you want him "out of my house". It is obvious from the tone of your posting that you do not want anything to do with your brother or his illness. Therefore, it is better for you and your brother if you decline his request now, while he still has time to make alternate plans. Isn't that better than having a crisis months later, when he is incapacitated and you want him "out of my house"? I don't know what religion requires people who dislike each other to force a fake relationship. This situation is a disaster in the making, how can you not see that? Sorry to be so blunt, but I assume you want honest and useful input here, rather than fake assurances.

Question: cancer question?? Can someone give me a good site to go to for information on internal melanoma originating in the female urethra of a 65 year old woman. I need to get more information on internal melanoma and treatments due to a family members diagnosis. What are some sites that have this rare information?

Answer: Its not very likely you will find sites that have info on this specific type of cancer other than scientific journals as this is not a common type of cancer. However, there is not much difference between melanomas in the urinary tract and melanomas in other parts of the body, so you can learn most of what you are seeking by reading about melanoma in general, and then scanning a few articles in Google to see if you can glean a little more info. These sites are a good place to start:

Question: What should I do my health project on? Not any like sexual diseases or something really known like cancer.. something unique!! I've already done one on lyme disease, OCD, and melanoma.. I need one more! Please help! :) And if you have any information on it please help. I will pick best answer tonight Thank you!

Answer: Progeria. Children age really fast and usually don't live past 13. I googled it and didn't spend much time reading the results but seems like there are a lot of different sources out there for your project. Alzheimer's. That's something we've all heard of but I'm sure most people don't know much about it

Question: Biopsy for cancer... questions? I'm going for a biopsy in a few days and am not really sure what to expect. I have what looks like melanoma on the back of my thigh. I always thought I'd be scared if I was told I had cancer, but I'm surprisingly okay right now. (I just found out yesterday.) How long will the biopsy take? Does the local anesthetic hurt? Will I be quite sore after? Are the results usually rushed? If it turns out the mark is cancer, what's the next step? If they get it all during the biopsy, do I still have to go through treatment, or is that it? Any information would be appreciated. Like I said, I'm feeling surprisingly calm about this but it just so happens that my boyfriend and best friend are both away right now, and my family doesn't live nearby. I would like to ask someone to go with me, but am afraid to tell my parents about this because my mom worries a lot (and I'm almost 30). Thanks for everyone's replies!

Answer: 30mins max.most likely an incisional biopsy only(meaning only take a part of it)..local anesthetic is injected in the area so expect a sting...no sore after..results maybe available in 3 days depending on the speed of the histopath lab. if its melanoma..a wide excision (cancer free margins) will hav to be done.

Question: Changes in moles? Could it be melanoma? I've had a couple moles on my body that with time have grown a bit and are now turning a blackish color. I've made an appt with my doctor but can't get in until October. Does this mean that I definately have cancer? I'm so scared that I'm almost afraid to go, but I know that I have to. What exactly do they do to remove the moles? What are the procedures? Any one with information would be helpful!

Answer: I strongly recommend keeping them out of the sun and going to see your doctor as soon as possible. Undefined borders and black colour isn't a good sign, but it could be other things. I would push for a faster appointment and explain to them your concern. It would also be a good idea to take photos of them now and periodically until you go for your appointment that way there is a record of any changes. Good luck! :)

Question: Skin Cancer and Removal? I might be getting an irregular mole taken off as a precaution to Melanoma and I was wondering what their procedure is to take the mole off. How do they take the mole off? Are needles involved? How long does it take? If needles are involved, are they a pain killer? If you have any more information about the removal, it's welcome. Thanks!

Answer: I have had several moles removed as a precaution. 2 different methods were used. In one case, a cluster of very small but very raised moles, they were cauterised (burnt off) following injection of local anaesthetic. This was done about 35 years ago so procedures may have changed. The others were both larger, slightly raised moles. One was removed about 35 years ago, the other about 2 years ago. In both cases they were injected with local anaesthetic (stings for about 3 seconds) then surgically removed (cut out) and a couple of stitches put in. The stitches were removed about a week later. All these procedures were done at my local Dr's office and took about half an hour each time (I think, I wasn't timing it!). In all cases, the biggest problem was keeping the dressing over the stitches dry. (one centre of back and other on shoulder, hard to cover with plastic!)

Question: I need your HELP FAST.? My grandpa is 65, ten years ago he had a couple heart attacks. He now has 15% of his heart left. Now, in the last 2years they've discovered that he has Melanoma Cancer. It started out as what the doctor said was a "blood blister" and now cancer keeps popping out of his body, they remove it and it keeps coming back. He also has a Defibulator in his heart so he cant have chemo and radiation. is their anything else he can do? PLEASE ANY INFORMATION WOULD HELP. THANK YOU!

Answer: heart transplant? i wish the best for him and hope he makes it through all of this.

Question: How harmful is tanning, really? So I know that getting sun is bad for your skin. I have been avoiding it, but I like to get sun and would like to start going to the tanning bed again. Here are the hazards, as I understand them: It ages your skin It can cause melanoma I get it that it ages your skin. That's a risk I'm okay with, b/c for the past five years I have gotten absolutely no sun. So my skin has had a break and can do with a little aging. Also, I never ever burn. (Yes, I know the skin is still said to be bad even if you don't burn.) As for skin cancer, melanoma is not hard to spot if you know what it looks like (which I do). I have my moles examined every time I go to the doctor. That said, there is really no way I can die of skin cancer, right? I see mole, get it checked, get it removed early. This is my argument for going to the tanning bed for 7 or 8 minutes about three times a week. Is there any reason I should not, based on the information above? Am I right about skin cancer risk being easy to combat?

Answer: You can die of skin cancer for sure, you're fair skinned (assuming) so you're not immune to the effects, and you really aren't taking the threat of it seriously at all. It's not going to show up in small dots, it will start showing up in whole patches in areas, it will be extremely painful, and "treatment" is ripping off entire chunks of flesh out of you, and some extra to make sure they got it, and then you hope it doesn't grow back on you on its own, and/or it won't spread to your organs and then you're really be hosed. People can and have died from that condition, easily. If you want to do it, and you understand the risks, that's fine; but don't delude yourself into thinking it's easy or fixable to do irreparable damage to your skin or your body. you'd be lucky if at the end of all of it you'd look like a prune. One of my exes had a nice chunk of her arm flesh removed due to it, it's not something you ever want to experience.