Oncology

MELANOMA SCREENING

Finally! It’s the first unofficial weekend of the summer!
But if you’re heading out into the sun, here’s a question for you: have you had your skin screened?

Everyone should!

Melanomas cause 80 percent of deaths from skin cancer. But here’s the good news: most serious cases of melanoma and most melanoma deaths can be prevented if people would simply do two things: use sunscreen, and get their skin screened!

If you’ve ever gotten tanned, which is sign of sun damage, and certainly if you’ve ever gotten burned, you should get an annual screening exam of your skin.

Dr. Desiree Ratner, a dermatologic surgeon at Columbia East Side Medical Center, says, “For someone with no previous history of skin cancer and no significant risk factors yearly screening is probably fine.”

Here’s why: melanoma rates are skyrocketing. In fact, it is the most common cause of cancer in women ages 25 through 29 and in women 30 to 34, it’s number two, second only to lung cancer. “The people who are at highest risk for developing skin cancer are people with fair skin and light eyes however even people with darker tones can still develop skin cancer,” says Dr. Ratner.

So while most young folks don’t even get an annual physical, an annual skin screening exam is very important for this population.

The doctor will look for the ABCD and E’s of moles on your skin that raise suspicion:

A is asymmetry…if you cut a mole down the middle, are both sides equal in size and shape?
B is border… is it regular or irregular?
C is color…is it dark or black, or with different colors
D is diameter---greater than six millimeters.
E is evolution—changes in the mole over time…such as growth or bleeding.


Dr. Ratner says, “If a skin cancer is caught early then I can potentially be treated with a very simple procedure and nothing more invasive then that.”

This year, the American Cancer Society estimates that around 60,000 cases of melanoma will be diagnosed in the united states, a total of about 7,770 men and women will die of it.
Again, many of these deaths can be prevented if people would simply get an annual screening.

Juvonde Gonzalez is one of the estimated 11 percent of Americans who gets a skin screening. He says, “It’s very, very simple, and it’s very easy. I had nothing thank G-d.”

Nothing, that is, except peace of mind.

For more information, click here:

http://www.aad.org/public/SkinCancerScreenings/

http://www.melanoma.org/

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