How to recognize melanoma at an early stage? Signs and symptoms of skin melanoma (photo)

The diagnosis of "melanoma" often sounds like a sentence, frightening not only the patient himself, but also his loved ones. It is not a secret that predisposition to the development of this type of malignant formation is hereditary.

The success of the same treatment of the disease (as well as many others) depends heavily on the stage at which the disease was diagnosed. This means that each of us needs to clearly understand how to recognize melanoma at the initial stage in order to prevent its dangerous growth.

What is melanoma

Melanoma is a type of skin cancer. She is considered the most aggressive, as she with a current of lymph actively metastasizes in all human organs. And the process can develop quite swiftly, literally in a matter of days, and provoke it is capable of even a minor injury.

Melanoma is formed from the skin pigment producing melanin cells, called melanocytes. It is diagnosed in 4% of cancer patients, but it is probably the only tumor whose development can be noticed already at an early stage.

By the way, thinking about how to recognize melanoma (photo of which you can see in this article), remember that these tumors only begin to develop from already existing moles (nevi) in only 30% of cases. And in 70% it appears on the place of the skin where the spots were not. In addition, know that melanoma can occur on the mucous membrane and even under the fingernails.

Factors that can trigger the development of melanoma

Talking about how to recognize melanoma and what it is, first of all, it should be said that it is either a nodule or a spot that has a dark color (although there are also pigmentless species) and an irregular shape.

Risk factors that can spur or provoke the development of melanoma include the following:

• The effect on the skin of ultraviolet radiation (this applies both to sun rays and to artificial sources - tanning beds or bactericidal lamps);
• The precedents of melanoma that existed before, both the patient himself and his close relatives;
• Presence on the human body of a large number of moles (it is fifty or more);
• female;
• Elderly age (although, in young people, melanomas are also found);
• White skin, red hair and a large number of rapidly emerging freckles.

The first signs of melanoma

Additional signs that tell you how to recognize melanoma will be the changes that occur with the mole. If the nevus thickens, rising above the skin, increases in size and at the same time changes pigmentation, it should be shown to the dermatologist.

Especially obvious signs of a dangerous situation is the redness of the tissues around the nevus, the appearance on it of cracks, sores covered with crusts, and bleeding. In such cases the birthmark causes anxiety - it itches or burns. In this case, the patient may increase lymph nodes.

How melanoma grows

More often melanoma develops on the lower limbs, on the trunk and hands, only in 10% of patients it can occur on the head or on the neck.

The described tumor, as a rule, grows in three directions - in deep layers of a skin, on its surface or through a skin in nearby tissues. By the way, the deeper the tumor spreads, the worse the predictions of specialists.

Answering questions about how to recognize melanoma and how she manifests herself, oncologists note her rapid metastasis and lesion of nearby lymph nodes. It spreads not only through the skin, but also hematogenous or, as already mentioned, by the lymphogenous pathway. By the way, hematogenous metastases have the ability to penetrate any organ, but most often they affect the kidneys, adrenals, liver, brain and lungs.

Metastases on the skin look like a kind of small rashes that slightly rise above it and have a brown or black color.

How to recognize melanoma: signs and symptoms of the disease

The first sign that a person in place of a birthmark develops melanoma, as a rule, are changes that suddenly begin in her. Look closely at your birthmarks.

1. Ordinary birthmarks are always symmetrical. If you through their middle mentally draw a line, then both halves of a normal birthmark will completely match in shape and size. Any violation of this symmetry should make you suspicious.
2. Pay attention to the borders of the birthmark. If they are uneven, blurry, fuzzy, then it should be checked.
3. The color of your tumor must also be cautious. If the mole is colored more than one color or has several shades - check it.
4. Symptoms of development of melanoma include increasing the size of the birthmark. Even if your stain does not have any other abnormalities (even color, clear boundaries, symmetrical shape), but it is more than 6 mm in diameter (this is about the same as the gum on the tip of the pencil) - this can be attributed to anxiety symptoms.

From the above, we can draw an unambiguous conclusion about how to recognize melanoma at an early stage. But it should be remembered that you do not need to wait for all of the symptoms listed - just one of them, so that you have a serious reason to contact a dermatologist.

Once again about whether it's worth worrying if a birthmark grows

All the above signs of the development of the disease will surely make you fearfully examine your body. But we want to warn you that thinking about how to recognize melanoma and not miss its symptoms, do not start immediately to sound the alarm, just noticing that the mole has increased. After all, a normal nevus can change, as we change with age. It can at first be flat, and then become convex - it's not scary. But if such changes occur, as they say, right before our eyes - it's not worth to delay the trip to the doctor.

By the way, the presence of hairs on the birthmark confirms that she is healthy!

Diagnosis of the disease

And still, if you have doubts about the condition of your birthmark, do not speculate about how to recognize melanoma yourself, but consult a doctor. He will clarify the symptoms, find out all the risk factors, and conduct a survey.

Due to the fact that, as mentioned earlier, melanoma is very aggressive, and even a small trauma can provoke it, an invasive method of its examination is undesirable (it means scraping or histology, when not all education is taken for analysis, but a small part of it ). Therefore, most often the doctor conducts an external examination of the nevus.

He will necessarily check the condition of the lymph nodes under the arms, on the neck and in the groin, and also conduct a radioisotope study, in which phosphorus is used. According to its increased accumulation in the tumor and judged the presence of melanoma.

A cytological examination is also used , in which, if there are ulcers on the proposed melanoma, an imprint is taken from the tumor surface and then sent for analysis.

To determine the presence of metastases, ultrasound of internal organs, X-rays and tomography are also performed.

How is melanoma treated?

If the patient has time to turn to an oncologist, then at an early stage of development the melanoma is simply excised. Depending on how deep it has penetrated, a small amount of healthy skin is removed. The doctor can also prescribe additional therapy in the form of drugs that will help reduce the likelihood of a relapse.

If lymph nodes are suspected, then after biopsy of one of them and a positive result, their removal is expected.

In the treatment of melanoma, a significant benefit of immunotherapy has been demonstrated. This is a relatively new method of treatment, which is performed immediately after the operation to remove the tumor.

In the late stages of the development of the disease resort to radiation and chemotherapy, which, incidentally, in the fourth stage of cancer development are ineffective, allowing only to a certain extent to reduce it.

A few words in conclusion

In the article, we tried to explain in detail how to recognize melanoma skin. The photos posted in it, too, certainly helped you navigate the situation.

But finally, I want to add that it is not at all necessary, after discovering in itself a birthmark of unusual form, immediately fall into despair. Not every mutated mole will turn out to be a cancerous neoplasm, it can be both an atypical pigment spot and a benign dysplastic nevus.

But still the trip to the doctor should not be postponed, because in this case it is better to show excessive vigilance, which can later save not only health, but life.