Melanoma is a form of malignant tumor (= cancer) of the skin. Not to be confused with benign nevi or skin patch.

There are several forms of skin cancer. 5% is caused by melanoma, 66% of deaths from skin cancer cases, however, due to melanoma.

This form of melanoma skin cancer can be healed only when the diagnosis is made early. Four in ten people present themselves to the doctor too late and die within five years after diagnosis.

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The increase in the number of melanoma cases is due to more and more exposure to the Sun. This mode was adopted after the Second World War when a brown skin suddenly became synonymous for beauty and health. 90% of melanoma cases is due to the sun!

Dangerous is to irregular sun exposure, as tourists do when they are fourteen days or one month a year visit the Sun.

You should therefore be particularly cautious if you have sensitive skin, if your skin shows many moles and / or if there are cases of malignant skin tumors in your family.

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Melanoma often develops months or even years before diagnosis. The earlier the detection is done, the faster the treatment and the more chances you have of a cure.

Attention is particularly to the following characters:
• The indefinite form: as you melanoma into two imaginary, are rarely identical halves.
  
  
• The edges: usually erratic, like a geography map boundaries.
  
  
• The color: the color is irregular. Often there are dark brown and lighter zones in a melanoma.
  
  
• The diameter is usually greater than 0.5 cm.
  
  
• The difference: a melanoma often looks different than other spots on the skin.
  
  
• The evolution: a melanoma changes slowly while other stains remain virtually the same.

If one of your beauty spots one or more of these properties exhibits, if you feel itching or if the stain with a quick bump bleeds, consult your doctor.

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In cases of doubt, you can always improve a spot or a lump preventive exhibition.

Warning! A treated melanoma metastases may recur and cause. Consequently, a rigorous treatment is essential. Moreover, protecting the skin from UV rays is recommended.

When removing a stain is found to be malignant melanoma, is also a part of the surrounding skin to be removed.

If the melanoma has had time to develop, the situation is more serious. Cancer cells can then separated from the melanoma and other organs proliferate: These are the metastases.

Melanoma tends to form metastases in the lymph nodes in the vicinity, the place where the cancer is located. If metastases in the glands can be felt, a complete removal of the glands in that area should be performed (usually in the groin or armpit, sometimes in the neck).

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• Approximately 70% of melanomas occur in the form of dark brown, black or light rough spots on the surface of the skin. Stabbing them slightly above the skin, have an indefinite shape and grow in size to within a period of two to four years.
  
  
• A melanoma may very suddenly in the form of a lump performance (20%). Such a lump may grow rapidly, especially in the depth and also ulcers and bleeding.
  
  
• A melanoma may very suddenly in the form of a melanoma is a type that affects the hands or feet (about 5%). This is mainly the palms, soles of the feet, the skin around the nails or the nails. This melanoma is expanding in both breadth and depth.
  
  
• Uveal melanoma (especially in the retina and less often on the iris) and melanoma of the conjunctiva or the eyelid.

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Moles that are melanomas are less common. Yet there is a considerable risk when it comes to the so-called birthmarks, with a diameter of about 2 cm.

Moles should also however be additional risk factors such as sun, the presence of melanoma in the family, the presence of many moles in a place where many frictions arise (at the height of the belt or bra in the palms or on the soles).

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• Persons who have lived in warm countries or before the age of 12 years often had a sunburn. In that case there is a much greater risk of melanoma in adulthood. Therefore it is of utmost importance to protect children properly.
  
  
• Persons responsible for hereditary melanoma.
  
  
• People who have many moles (nevi).
  
  
• The number of moles depends on heredity (if your parents had a lot, you will probably have a lot) but also of sun exposure in childhood. The number of moles is an indication of how much sun you have been given and thus the risk of skin cancer.

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Melanoma is a form of skin cancer increasingly being detected and can be very dangerous. Its effects are usually fatal if not timely intervention.

Sun is the main cause of melanoma. Because sunlight especially harmful to the immature skin, it is therefore appropriate to protect children. Adults also have to be careful.

If you use sunscreens, it does not mean your body may expose longer to the sun! They are not intended to basic protection (shade, hats, clothes ,...) to replace but only supplement them.

Note with sunbeds. We sometimes think, falsely, that the rays of the sun bed is less harmful. There are more and more arguments to suggest that UVA (present in the tanning rays) are responsible for a large proportion of skin cancers. Tanning beds are really a source of unnecessary radiation.

If you find a strange spot on your skin that changes shape and appearance, which causes itching or bleeding, see your doctor. The sooner a melanoma is treated, the greater the chance of cure.

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