Melanoma Case Study

Melanoma is one of the most fatal disease of skin cancer and an important public health concern. Given the substantial health burden associated with melanoma, it is important to do some study and make public aware of its diagnosis and treatment.

Diagnosis:
A spot on the skin need to be confirmed as melanoma if the Dermatologist insists for a biopsy after preliminary examination. A biopsy is the only way to make a fool proof diagnosis. In this procedure, the doctor tries to remove all or portion of the suspicious-looking growth depending on the size. A biopsy can normally be carried out in the doctor’s clinic administering local anesthesia. A pathologist then examines the tissue under a microscope to check for cancer cells.

Treatment:
The
doctor first finds out at what stage is the Melanoma diagnosed before planning a treatment. Stage will be decided on how thick the tumour is, how deeply the melanoma has penetrated the skin and whether melanoma cells have spread to nearby lymph nodes or other parts of the body. The doctor may remove nearby lymph nodes to check for cancer cells. The doctor also does a careful After a thorough physical exam the doctor may order investigation like chest x-rays, blood tests and scans of the liver, bones, and brain

The following stages are used for treatment of melanoma:
Stage 0: The melanoma cells are found only in the outer layer of skin cells and have not penetrated deeper into the skin.
Stage I: Melanoma is small in size, less than 1 mm thick. There is no ulceration and melanoma cells have not spread to nearby lymph nodes.
Stage II: The tumour is at least 1 mm thick. The tumour size is between 1 and 2 mm and there may be ulceration.
Stage III: The melanoma cells have spread to nearby tissues and may be to nearby lymph
nodes.
Stage IV: The melanoma cells have spread to other organs, to lymph nodes.
Recurrent: Disease may recur which means that the cancer has come back after it has been treated.

Treatment
Treatment for melanoma depends on the stages of the disease, the patient’s age and general health. Patients are generally treated by a team of specialists viz., a dermatologist, surgeon, oncologist, and plastic surgeon.

Surgery is the normal and first treatment for melanoma. The surgeon removes the tumour and some normal tissue around it. This procedure reduces the chance that cancer cells will be left in the areIf a large area of tissue is removed, the surgeon may do a skin graft. For this procedure, the doctor uses skin from another part of the body to replace the skin that was removed.
Lymph nodes near the tumour may be removed because cancer can spread through the lymphatic system.
Surgery is generally not effective in controlling melanoma that has spread to other parts of the body. In such cases other methods of treatment, such as chemotherapy, biological therapy, radiation therapy is used for treatment.

Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy, the use of drugs to kill cancer cells, is sometimes used to treat melanoma. The drugs are usually injected or given orally periodically , a treatment period followed by a recovery period, then another treatment period, and so on.

Biological Therapy
Biological therapy is actually an immunotherapy. It uses the body’s immune system to fight cancer or to reduce side effects caused by some cancer treatments. In Biological therapy cytokines are used for treatment of melanoma, normally produced by the body in response to infections and other diseases. Using modern laboratory techniques, scientists can produce cytokines in large amounts.

Radiation Therapy
Radiotherapy uses high-energy rays to kill cancer cells. Rays are directed by a machine at affected part of the body. The patient usually has treatment at a hospital or clinic, five days a week for several
weeks.