Melanoma

There are many different skin conditions, although perhaps none as serious as a melanoma. Melanoma is an extremely serious kind of skin cancer. Though melanoma is 100% curable if diagnosed in the early stages, unfortunately early diagnosis seldom occurs. The cancer may advance and spread quickly to different parts of the body where it becomes very hard to identify.
In the beginning, melanoma skin cancer may manifest itself simply in the form of a mole which causes a slight change in the color and the texture of the skin. The mole may look very ordinary and may not be painful or cause any discomfort. However, the harmless looking mole can quickly become malignant.

Though a melanoma is not essentially the most common type of skin cancer, it is certainly the one that causes the most deaths. The malignant tumor in a melanoma originates in the melanocytes—small glands in the skin. The melanocytes produce melanin, a colored pigment which gives color to not only our skin, but also to the hair and the eyes. Most of the melanomas are black in color or brown, resembling harmless moles on the skin. However, some melanomas can be red, purple, blue, pink, or white. These are more easily identifiable. If a person suffers from differently colored melanoma, the alarm caused over the unusual mole colors usually leads to early detection of the condition, improving the melanoma prognosis exponentially.

Melanoma is a disease that anyone could suffer from. The early melanoma symptoms, though not always easily identifiable, can be observed on anyone. Those who have excessive sun exposure or a lot of moles on the skin are more prone to developing melanoma. Skin type and genetics also make a person predisposed to developing melanoma.  

There are four basic types of melanoma. These are:

• Superficial spreading melanoma: this is the most common type of melanoma and accounts for almost 70% of melanoma cases. Most often seen in young people, this melanoma occurs only on the top layer of the skin and stays there for a long time before penetrating deeper. A slightly raised discolored patch is usually the first sign of melanoma.
• Lentigo Maligna: this remains close to the surface of this skin and appears as mildly elevated, mottled patch of skin. This is most common in the elderly.
• Acral Lentiginous melanoma: this starts on the superficial layers, but spreads more deeply. However, this appears as a black or brown discoloration and is usually first observed under the nails or the soles of feet.
• Nodular melanoma: this is the most difficult to diagnose and has usually turned invasive by the time it is diagnosed. In this, lumps of different colors form on the skin.