What is melanoma? What factors cause melanoma?

Melanoma is a malignant tumor that is mainly distributed on the surface of the skin. It can be composed of epidermal melanocytes, nevus cells or dermal melanocytes. The tumor originates from the neural crest of the ectoderm. Melanocytes are located between the epidermis and basal cells. After the cells produce pigments, they transport melanin particles to basal cells and hair through dendrites.

What is melanoma?

Most malignant melanomas occur due to repeated friction, scratching and damage to the melanin nevus, which can cause malignant transformation. Improper excavation and drug corrosion can transform benign melanin nevus into malignant melanoma. Malignant melanoma develops rapidly in women during pregnancy or childbearing age, suggesting that the disease is related to endocrine.

In terms of age, most cases occur in middle-aged and elderly people, and very few occur before puberty. It is reported that 84% of malignant melanomas come from benign moles. According to the Wieeio report, many patients do not notice the moles in the early stages of the disease because they are too small. Some people believe that benign moles are the biggest source of malignant melanoma.

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that malignant melanoma occurs due to wind evil attacking the changes in blood and qi; or blood stagnation in the meridians causes the Yang Qi to be bound up in the Wei division; turbid Qi in the kidneys mixes with the Yang Qi, causing the Yang Qi to be bound up, and is related to factors such as blood stasis and Qi stagnation.

What causes melanoma?

1. Immunodeficiency may be the cause of melanoma. With the improvement of living standards, the life expectancy of Chinese people has been significantly extended. With the increase of age, the immune function of the human body gradually declines. Studies have found that low immune function is one of the important causes of melanoma, so the incidence of melanoma in the elderly is very high clinically.

2. The causes of melanoma may include the malignant transformation of moles into benign melanin plaques, namely moles. Among them, junctional moles are most likely to become malignant, mixed moles are less likely, and endothelial moles rarely become malignant. However, most scalp melanomas are not transformed from moles, so some people believe that this disease is not entirely related to moles. Lack of health knowledge has not caused enough attention to moles growing on the feet, perineum and other parts that are prone to friction. Due to their long-term compression and friction, they eventually undergo malignant transformation.

3. Inadequate UV filtration causes skin damage. Air pollution and large-scale emissions of harmful substances such as Freon have destroyed the ozone layer, resulting in inadequate UV filtration. Harmful UV rays and harmful substances in the air work together to act on human skin, causing abnormal expression of melanocytes and triggering melanoma.

4. Chemical skin pollution may also be the cause of melanoma. The desire for beauty is the fault. Many people use a lot of chemical cosmetics in pursuit of clean and tender skin, which causes chemical skin pollution. Some people even use chemical corrosives to remove moles on the skin, but the result is counterproductive and stimulates the excessive proliferation of melanocytes.

5. Abuse of estrogen drugs is also one of the causes of melanoma. Studies have found that there are estrogen receptors in the cells of malignant melanoma. People suspect that excessive estrogen will stimulate the occurrence of melanoma. The incidence rate of white people is higher than that of people of color. For example, the annual incidence rate of white people in the United States is as high as 42/100,000, while that of black people is only 0.8/100,000.