Understanding what melanoma is

Understand what melanoma is. Melanoma, also known as malignant melanoma, is a type of malignant tumor that originates from melanocytes. It is common in the skin, mucous membranes, choroids, and other parts of the eye. Melanoma is the most malignant type of skin tumor and is prone to distant metastasis. Early diagnosis and treatment are therefore particularly important.

Signs of melanoma include: changes in the shape or color of existing skin moles, the appearance of bumps on the skin surface, itching of the moles, local ulceration and bleeding, cracking of the nails, etc. The early manifestations of malignant transformation of moles can be summarized as "ABCDE".

A Asymmetry: One half of the pigmented spot looks asymmetrical to the other half.

B. Border irregularity: The edge is irregular or has notches or serrations, unlike a normal pigmented nevus which has a smooth round or oval outline.

C. Color change: Normal moles are usually single-color, while melanoma mainly appears as dirty black, but can also appear in a variety of different colors such as brown, brown, brown-black, blue, pink, black, and even white.

D diameter: Pay attention when the pigment spot diameter is >5-6mm or the pigment spot grows significantly. Melanoma is usually larger than ordinary moles, so pay attention to pigment spots with a diameter >5mm. It is best to perform a biopsy evaluation for pigmented moles with a diameter >1cm.

Elevation: In some early melanomas, the entire tumor may have a slight elevation.

The only shortcoming of the ABCDE is that it does not take into account how quickly melanomas can develop, such as a tendency to change significantly over a period of weeks or months.

Early-stage skin melanoma may further develop into satellite lesions, ulcers, repeated failure to heal, regional lymph node metastasis, and transitional metastasis. The symptoms of advanced melanoma vary depending on the site of metastasis. The most common sites of metastasis are the lungs, liver, bones, and brain. Melanomas of the eye and rectum are prone to liver metastasis. Patients with metastatic melanoma may experience a series of nonspecific symptoms, including loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, and fatigue. In addition, different symptoms may occur when melanoma metastasizes to different parts of the body. For example, bone pain may occur in bone metastasis, and coughing and hemoptysis may occur in lung metastasis.