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Melanoma can spread very rapidly and is the most deadly form of skin cancer. Melanoma may appear on normal skin, or it may begin as a mole or other area that has changed in appearance.
The risk of developing melanoma increases with age, but nonetheless the disease frequently affects young, otherwise healthy individuals. In fact, melanoma is the most common cancer in young adults aged 20-30 and the primary cause of cancer death for women aged 25-30 years. It is also the second cause of cancer death in women aged 30-35 behind breast cancer. Who is at risk? Childhood sunburns are a significant contributing factor, as well as frequent exposure to the sun - especially if you are fair skinned, have blue/green eyes and red or blond hair. Having a family history, a large number of moles, or unusual looking moles are other factors that can make you more prone to melanoma. Click here to find out more about your own personal risk. Luckily, if detected early the chances of making a full recovery is excellent. Self-Examination Is The First Step Towards Early Detection A full body self examination enables you to detect any suspicious lesions that may be cancerous. Thinking ABCDE can help you remember what to watch out for. When you have a mole of concern, don't delay, it needs immediate professional attention! When detected and treated early, melanoma skin cancer is nearly 100% curable. Why Choose MoleSafe? MoleSafe is the world’s most advanced melanoma skin cancer screening program. It combines advanced technology with the skills of a panel of international dermatologists/dermoscopists to diagnose melanoma at the earliest possible stage. Combining the latest technology with the skills of expert dermatologists/dermoscopists is required as sometimes melanoma, especially early stage melanoma, is extremely difficult to diagnose. The following images help illustrate the varying levels of skill required to diagnoses melanoma: Obvious Melanoma Skin Cancer:   These two images are of obvious melanoma. These melanomas are generally more advanced, with poorer outcomes and are usually initially identified by the patient. Over half of melanomas are initially identified by the patient. Less Obvious Melanoma Skin Cancer:   Melanoma such as these are harder to diagnose but are still generally picked up via a naked eye inspection by a doctor without the need for any tools to aid their diagnosis. Melanoma such as these have better survival rates that those above. Difficult to Diagnose Melanoma Skin Cancer:   These, usually very early stage melanomas, are considerably more difficult to diagnose with the naked eye and therefore require additional tools to help identify them. Melanoma removed at this stage has close to 100% survivability, and if you have a melanoma, this is when you want it found & removed. Additional tools that have been clinical proven to help diagnose subtle or undiagnosable melanoma and are utilized by MoleSafe include: Total Body Photography: Total Body Photography creates a complete record of your skin and is widely used for the management of at-risk patients particularly those with a large number of moles. Total Body Photography helps clinicians identify new moles (up to 50% of melanomas arise out of previously unmarked skin i.e. not out of existing moles) and pick up subtle changes in existing moles that may have gone unchecked if Total Body Photography were not available. Several authors point out that Total Body Photography was the key factor in detecting melanoma in their high risk patients. Every new patient that has a MoleSafe consultation receives Total Body Photography to create a record, or baseline, of their skin to help our clinicians identify new/changing moles that may be indicative of melanoma. Digital Dermoscopy: Dermoscopy combines high magnification and high light intensity to illuminate sub-surface features and vascular networks of pigmented lesions – diagnostic feature that cannot be observed with the naked eye alone. The use of dermoscopy greatly enhances the diagnostic accuracy for melanoma i.e. more melanomas are identified using dermoscopy than relying solely on a naked eye inspection. Dermoscopy also helps reduce the need for unnecessary excision of benign lesions. The diagnosis of melanoma via dermoscopy does require a high level of skill as some vascular features of melanoma are very subtle even to a trained set of eyes. This is why MoleSafe draws on the experience of an international panel of dermatologists certified in dermoscopy to assess every mole of each MoleSafe patient. Dermatologists/dermoscopists have undergone a minimum of 13 years training. Digital Serial Monitoring: If there is one universal truth about melanoma then that is change. All melanomas change shape size or color so having the ability to track moles over a period of time (3 months – 1 year) enables dermatologist to pick up changes that may indicate early stage melanoma. This process is especially useful for identifying clinically featureless melanomas (i.e. melanomas that look like a normal mole) that would otherwise be missed by a routine naked eye examination. So if you're concerned about a mole or consider yourself an at-risk person then call MoleSafe at 1 877 MOLESAFE (665 3723) or book online now. Click here to read more benefits of having a MoleSafe consultation. |
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