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MelanomaMelanomaThe most serious form of skin cancer is melanoma, which is expected to be diagnosed in about 59,580 persons in 2005. According to the American Cancer Society, although the rate of increase in melanoma has slowed to a little less than 3% per year from 6% per year a few decades ago, it is estimated there will be 7,770 deaths from melanoma in 2005. Melanoma is almost always curable in its early stages. But it is also likely to spread to other parts of the body. Early detection of malignant melanoma is key -- and PET scanning can help. DiagnosisMelanoma can be found early. Any unusual sore, lump, blemish, marking, or change in the way an area of the skin looks or feels may be a sign of skin cancer. You should know the pattern of moles, freckles, and other marks on your skin so that you will notice any changes. A normal mole is generally an evenly colored brown, tan, or black spot on the skin. Once a mole has developed, it will usually stay the same size, shape, and color for many years until it may eventually fade away. You should go and see a doctor right away when a mole changes its appearance (size, shape, or color) or when:
Early diagnosis is the most important survival factor. Usually, it depends first on finding the lesion visually. Visible screening and early testing are so important. If you have a skin blemish that you are concerned about, call a physician at your local PET center or visit your physician. When malignant melanoma is found - PET Scanning can help. If you have a suspicious mole, you will need to have further tests to find out if it is malignant. To find out if it is cancerous, you will need to have a biopsy procedure. The doctor will take some of the cells and have them looked at under a microscope. If it turns out to be a melanoma, you may need to have additional tests. Although many melanomas are curable, some spread so quickly that you could have other tumors in the lymph nodes, lungs, brain, or other places, even if the original skin melanoma is still small. This method of metastasizing also makes it very difficult to monitor recurrence. Melanoma that has spread to other parts of the body may not be found until long after the first melanoma has been removed from the skin. A PET scan can check to see if the cancer has spread. PET is not usually useful in the non-melanoma types of skin cancer, because of the growth rates and patterns. However, PET is an important test to be done right after you are diagnosed with malignant melanoma. A PET scan can accurately detect melanoma skin cancer and see if it may have spread. The high mortality rate of melanoma is because it spreads quickly through the lymphatic and blood systems. Top of this Page | Back to Cancer Information TreatmentPhysicians diagnose the cancer and determine what kind it is by looking at a sample of the tumor under a microscope. This alone does not determine what treatment you need to have. Before treatment, your doctors must determine if or how much the melanoma has spread. This is called staging the cancer. In melanoma, staging reflects how thick the tumor is and whether or not it has spread to other organs. This is very important because the treatment and the outlook for your recovery depend on the stage of the cancer. Early stage malignant melanoma can be cured. If the cancer has spread to other organs, it is rarely curable, once again highlighting the importance of early detection. Once identified, a suspected lesion is biopsied. If it is found to be melanoma, it will be surgically removed, often with the surrounding lymph nodes. A number of diagnostic tests may be performed, including a PET scan and a sentinel node biopsy. PET is the most useful test that you can have when doctors are staging or re-staging metastatic melanoma because it is more sensitive than a CT scan or any other type of test at seeing the small deposits of metastatic tumor. How PET works: In cancer, cells begin to grow at a much faster rate, feeding on sugars like glucose. PET works by using a small amount of a radioactive drug called a tracer in combination with a compound such as glucose. Once you are injected with the tracer and glucose, the tracer travels through your body. It emits signals as it travels and eventually collects in the organs targeted for examination. If an area in an organ is cancerous, the signals will be stronger since more glucose will be absorbed in those areas. In metastatic melanoma, if the lymph nodes or if a distant organ such as the liver has become involved, the tumor deposits will take up more of the radioactive glucose. The extent of the spread of disease is a critical factor in deciding the surgical or medical course of treatment. If there is any reason to suspect that the melanoma has spread to other parts of the body, the doctor may order a PET scan. In one whole-body picture, the PET scan can look throughout your whole body to see if there are any clumps of the cancer cells that have spread. The PET scan can make the difference in determining whether or not surgery should be done. After first showing the doctors where the cancer cells are, PET can also see if the chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy has been effective at killing the them. Top of this Page | Back to Cancer Information Follow-UpEven when a melanoma has been removed and is considered cured, you will need follow-up exams to see if the cancer has come back. You should check your own skin and contact your doctor if you find any lumps. Report any new symptoms to your doctor such as pain, a cough, tiredness, or weight loss. On a regular basis go to your doctor so that he/she can also check for lymph node swelling and do a general physical exam. Sometimes, blood tests and imaging exams may be done to check for recurrence. Imaging with PET is a critical test for finding reoccurring cancerous tumors. Before PET, it was extremely difficult to monitor patients to see if the melanoma had returned. Multiple CT scans would have to be done to capture images of the whole body and it still could not see the recurrent cancer as sensitively as PET. Delay in finding recurrence could result in a delay of further surgical removal. If the melanoma returns, a PET scan may identify it because the tumor cells will pick up the radioactive glucose. PET can also be used to image tumor response to therapy and to detect recurrence in successfully treated lesions. For post surgery and other treatments, PET is extremely important for monitoring if the cancer cells have returned and if treatment should be re-started. Top of this Page | Back to Cancer Information Case Study
Top of this Page | Back to Cancer Information More InformationFind the support you need:The stress of illness can often be helped by joining a support group where members share common experiences and problems. Support programs exist in a variety of formats, including counseling, support groups, and self-help programs. For those who cannot attend meetings, there are also on-line mechanisms that may allow a patient to "chat" with other people facing similar situations. These types of programs can provide a way for you to relate your experience firsthand with others and may provide treatment-related tips about drug side-effects that will be helpful to you. Online Resources: |
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