Melanoma

General characteristic of a disease

The melanoma is a specific tumor on skin of the person which cells, malanotsita, produce a pigment melanin. And as it influences coloring of integuments, hair and a retina of an eye of the person, one of the main symptoms of a melanoma is dark color of a tumor.

Melanoma – only one of kinds of oncological pathologies of skin. It meets quite seldom in comparison with other types of a carcinoma cutaneum, bazalnokletochny or planocellular tumors. The melanoma makes no more than 15% of all cases of oncology of skin.

Most often symptoms of a melanoma of skin are diagnosed on extremities and a trunk of people with the East European type of skin. Its feature – pale white color and the increased tendency to an obgoraniye at suntan. Patients with signs have melanomas most often a red or fair hair, blue, gray or green color of eyes.

As provocative factor to development of a melanoma got strong sunblister, existence of trophic ulcers or hems can serve in places of a bend of extremities. Symptoms of a melanoma are more often diagnosed for elderly people, for patients with a carcinoma cutaneum in the family anamnesis, and also for men and women whose skin is inclined to formation of birthmarks. The melanoma constitutes special danger to patients with an inborn pigmental xeroderma, diseases Pedzhet or Bowen.

Melanoma – extremely aggressive and dangerous disease. Timely diagnosis and successful treatment of a melanoma – one of the most complex problems of modern oncology. Annually the disease is diagnosed approximately for 4 people on 100 thousand population. The guaranteed healing from a disease is reached only at regionally widespread process at early stages of a melanoma.

Skin melanoma symptoms

The melanoma not necessarily develops on site a birthmark or a birthmark (nevus). Phaeochrous formation of an asymmetric form can appear on the site with the clean skin deprived of any nevus pigmentosus.

However most often a nevus of almost black, dark gray or dark brown color is inclined to a malignancy (a process ozlokachestvleniya). An important symptom of a melanoma of skin – absence on a nevus of hair vegetation. Originally it also practically never towers over the surface of skin. Over time the nevus pigmentosus begins to change the color, and emergence of skin in the place of localization of a tumor of a rose-red, gray or white shade becomes the first symptom of a melanoma.

At late stages of development carry bleeding, an itch, pain, expression, and also distribution of process and emergence near a tumor of the numerous pigmented spots to symptoms of a melanoma. The average size of a melanoma is from 6 mm in the diameter. The behavior of a melanoma in respect of the growth rate and innidiation is unpredictable.

Symptom of a melanoma of superficial type - the slowed-down growth within several years. Rapid growth – feature of a carcinoma cutaneum of a nodal form. Refer friability and tendency to a skin ulceration in the place of localization of a tumor to symptoms of a melanoma of this type.

Malignant лентиго or Hutchinson freckles are more typical for elderly people. One more type of a melanoma, peripheral лентиго, usually occurs at people with dark skin color and is diagnosed at later stages of a melanoma in connection with localization in hardly accessible to a look places, for example, on a sole.

Diagnosis of a melanoma

Any externally suspicious new growth on skin demands the most attentive to itself the relation. At the first symptoms of a melanoma of skin diagnosis of a disease begins with the patient's poll about terms of emergence and behavior of a suspicious spot. After collecting the anamnesis and survey of a new growth there comes the turn of laboratory tests for diagnosis of a melanoma. The first of them – a skin biopsy, studying under a microscope of the scraping of blankets of skin executed under a local anesthesia.

The aspiration biopsy of a tumor, surgical biopsy of lymph nodes, thorax X-ray analysis, CT (computer tomography) and MRT (magnetic and resonant tomography) of all body are applied to diagnosis of a metastatic melanoma. The indication to carrying out it like diagnosis are the confirmed diagnosis "melanoma" by results of a local biopsy of a new growth and poshchupyvayemy tumoral nodes in lymph nodes.

Melanoma stages

Definition of a stage of a melanoma – one of the most important predictive factors in treatment. A symptom of a melanoma of a stage of I and II is localization of a tumor in primary center. In this case the positive result of treatment of a melanoma makes up to 99%. At metastasises in regional lymph nodes – a symptom of a melanoma of a stage of III – positive takes in cancer therapy of skin manage to achieve only in 50% of cases.

At patients with a stage melanoma the IV forecast sounds less optimistically, however, fortunately, a carcinoma cutaneum – one of rare oncological diseases which symptoms are in most cases diagnosed at I and II stages. Today more than 40% of patients with symptoms of a melanoma of skin begin treatment of a disease at a thickness of tumor less than 0,75 mm. At this stage of a melanoma surgical cancer therapy of skin is successful in 97-99% of cases.

Treatment of a melanoma

At an initial stage of a melanoma surgical excision of a tumor is surely carried out. It can be economical, with removal no more than 2 cm of skin from edge of a melanoma or wide, with a skin resection to 5 cm around new growth border. There is no uniform standard in surgical treatment of a melanoma of a stage of I and II in this plan. Broad excision of a melanoma guarantees fuller removal of the center of a tumor, but also at the same time it can be cancer recurrence reason on site of the formed hem or the replaced piece of leather. The type of surgical treatment of a melanoma depends on a look and an arrangement of a tumor, and also on the decision of the patient.

Part of the combined treatment of a melanoma is preoperative beam therapy. It is appointed in the presence of ulcerations to tumors, bleedings and inflammatory process around a new growth. Local radiation therapy suppresses biological activity of malignant cells and creates favorable conditions for surgical treatment of a melanoma.

As an independent method of treatment of a melanoma radiation therapy is used seldom. And in the presurgical period of treatment of a melanoma its use became customary practice as excision of a tumor can be carried out just next day after the termination of a course of radiation therapy. The interval for recovery of an organism between two types of treatment at skin melanoma symptoms usually is not maintained.

Controversial issue in treatment of a melanoma – a preventive limfadenektomiya or removal of regional lymph nodes. At post-operational histologic studying they are struck only in 30% of cases. But as there is no reliable method of definition of a condition of lymph nodes before operation, usually at a melanoma of the lower extremities are removed pakhobedrennye lymph nodes. At a melanoma of upper extremities excision of axillary lymph nodes is carried out.

Results of use of chemotherapy in treatment of a melanoma with metastasises unsatisfactory therefore this type of therapy of a carcinoma cutaneum is practically not applied.