Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer. It is most often caused by intense, intermittent exposures to the sun, especially exposures that occur before age 18. In the past two decades, as outdoor recreational activities have increased and fashions have left more skin exposed, melanoma incidence rates have more than tripled.
Fair-skinned people with light hair and eye color, and those who have had sunburns or tend to burn easily, are at an increased risk of developing melanoma. So are those who have a family history of the disease or have ever had a melanoma or other skin cancer. People with large, unusually colored, and irregularly shaped moles (dysplastic nevi, also called atypical moles) are also at higher risk.
In its earliest stages, melanoma is readily treatable. Left untreated, it will spread to vital organs, frequently becoming life-threatening.
Most people have some brownish spots or growths. Almost all of these are normal, but growths that change noticeably in size or have irregularities in shape and color could be melanomas. It is important to check the skin from head to toe every month, staying alert for lesions that have the “ABCD” signs of melanoma: Asymmetry, Border irregularity, Color variability, Diameter larger than a pencil eraser and E for evolving
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