Melanoma most often appears on the face or the trunk of affected men. In women, this type of cancer most often develops on the lower legs. In both men and women, melanoma can occur on skin that hasn't been exposed to the sun. Melanoma can affect people of any skin tone.
They most often develop in areas that have had exposure to the sun, such as your back, legs, arms and face. Melanomas can also occur in areas that don't receive much sun exposure, such as the soles of your feet, palms of your hands and fingernail beds. These hidden melanomas are more common in people with darker skin.
Melanoma can develop anywhere on the body, including the head and neck, the skin under the fingernails, the genitals, and even the soles of the feet or palms of the hands. Melanoma may not be colored like a mole. It may have no color or be slightly red, which is called amelanotic melanoma.
Any change in size, shape, color or elevation of a spot on your skin, or any new symptom in it, such as bleeding, itching or crusting, may be a warning sign of melanoma.
Melanoma can spread to parts of your body far away from where the cancer started. This is called advanced, metastatic, or stage IV melanoma. It can move to your lungs, liver, brain, bones, digestive system, and lymph nodes. Most people find their skin cancer early, before it has spread.
How fast does melanoma spread and grow to local lymph nodes and other organs? “Melanoma can grow extremely quickly and can become life-threatening in as little as six weeks,” noted Dr. Duncanson.
Talk to your doctor if you notice changes in your skin such as a new growth, a sore that doesn't heal, a change in an old growth, or any of the A-B-C-D-Es of melanoma. A change in your skin is the most common sign of skin cancer. This could be a new growth, a sore that doesn't heal, or a change in a mole.
General symptoms
hard or swollen lymph nodes. hard lump on your skin. unexplained pain. feeling very tired or unwell.
How long can you have melanoma and not know it? It depends on the type of melanoma. For example, nodular melanoma grows rapidly over a matter of weeks, while a radial melanoma can slowly spread over the span of a decade. Like a cavity, a melanoma may grow for years before producing any significant symptoms.
Pigment, redness or swelling that spreads outside the border of a spot to the surrounding skin. Itchiness, tenderness or pain. Changes in texture, or scales, oozing or bleeding from an existing mole. Blurry vision or partial loss of sight, or dark spots in the iris.
What are the signs of late-stage skin cancer? Melanoma is considered stage 4 when it has metastasized to lymph nodes in a part of the body far from the original tumor or if it has metastasized to internal organs like the lungs, liver, brain, bone or gastrointestinal tract.
Doctors have known for decades that melanoma and many other cancer types tend to spread first into nearby lymph nodes before entering the blood and traveling to distant parts of the body.
UV exposure
There is a clear correlation between unprotected exposure to UV radiation and melanoma. UV rays from the sun and indoor tanning are a powerful attack on the skin and the primary risk factor for developing melanoma and other skin cancers.
Melanoma is a type of cancer that begins in melanocytes (cells that make the pigment melanin). Below are photos of melanoma that formed on the skin. Melanoma can also start in the eye, the intestines, or other areas of the body with pigmented tissues.
Blood tests. Blood tests aren't used to diagnose melanoma, but some tests may be done before or during treatment, especially for more advanced melanomas. Doctors often test blood for levels of a substance called lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) before treatment.
If your melanoma has spread to other areas, you may have: Hardened lumps under your skin. Swollen or painful lymph nodes. Trouble breathing, or a cough that doesn't go away.
The general symptoms of advanced melanoma include: weight loss. loss of appetite. feeling very tired (fatigued).
Visible signs of precancerous skin
Crustiness or bleeding. Diameter of less than one inch. Discoloration, often appearing brown, pink, gray, red, yellow, or white. Flat or slightly raised.
Metastatic melanoma symptoms and signs may include: Fatigue. Swollen or painful lymph nodes. Weight loss.
For people with more-advanced melanomas, doctors may recommend imaging tests to look for signs that the cancer has spread to other areas of the body. Imaging tests may include X-rays, CT scans and positron emission tomography (PET) scans.
Overview. If a GP diagnoses or suspects melanoma, they may remove the spot (excision biopsy) or refer you to another doctor, such as a dermatologist or surgeon, for the biopsy. A pathologist will examine the biopsy specimen to confirm a melanoma diagnosis.
Hypothesis-based, informal guidelines recommend treatment within 4–6 weeks. In this study, median surgical intervals varied significantly between clinics and departments, but nearly all were within a 6-week frame. Key words: melanoma, surgical interval, treatment time, melanoma survival, time factors.
Lymphadenectomy: In cases where melanoma has spread, removal of the lymph nodes near the primary diagnosis site may be required. This can prevent the spread to other areas of your body.