Melanoma treatment
The fastest growing and most deadly form of skin cancer is melanoma. Some forms of melanoma can spread rapidly so it is very important to begin melanoma treatment as soon as possible. It is a curable form of cancer but it must be treated quickly and effectively. There are several types of treatments for it. In the early stages it can be treated by surgery or chemotherapy. If the skin cancer has advanced beyond the early stages then radiation therapy and biological therapies must be done.
There are actually four types of melanoma. The most common form is superficial and is involves a localized tumor. It is responsible for about 70% of skin cancer cases. It can appear as a small skin irritation the does not heal. The next form is Lentigo Maligna which starts out as slightly raised and irregular shape on the skin that can be tan, black or brown in color. If treated quickly these two types are cleared up quickly. However if you do not get melanoma treatment for them they can eventually go deeper into the skin and spread to other parts of the body.
Another common form of skin cancer is called Acral Lentiginous melanoma that affects mostly African-Americans and Asians. It is also superficial and if treated it can be cleared up quickly.
The most severe form of melanoma is called Nodular melanoma. About 15% of all melanoma cases are of this type and it is the deadliest type of them all. It starts out as a lump and should be treated immediately.
If a person gets melanoma caused by sun damage they can be treated by laser resurfacing, Efudex cream or TCA peels. It can also be treated by removing the tumor and a small amount of the healthy skin tissue around it so that the metastatic cancer cells can be completely eliminated. Removing the cancer cells from the skin may also require a skin graft. Treating this type of melanoma by surgery and skin grafting has been done for many years. If the melanoma has spread to the lymph nodes they will also most likely have to be removed by surgery too.
If the melanoma has reached advanced stages then the melanoma treatment will have to advance to more drastic treatments. The patient can be given certain types of cancer drugs and will have to either take them in the form of capsules or intravenous injections. The most aggressive and advanced form of melanoma treatment involves the radiation therapies and biological treatments. Radiation used for skin cancer treatment can kill the cancer cells and prevent it from spreading. Radiation used as melanoma treatment usually takes several sessions and the person who under goes radiation treatments will have a reddened area in the area of the skin that was radiated, but it will eventually go away. New ways of using radiation technique to treat melanoma now exists that directly target the cancer cells and can spare healthy tissues from being radiated.
When chemotherapy is used for the melanoma treatment the drugs that are used are specifically known to be cancer combating drugs. Chemotherapy treatment can kill cancer cells and prevent them from being regenerated.
Biotherapy can also be used as a melanoma treatment. This type of therapy usually involves giving the patient doses of tumor vaccines. Another type of melanoma treatment is called hyperthermia which means that the part of the area concerned on the body is subjected to high heat which is now known to be able to weaken and kill cancer cells.
Photodynamic therapy is another new melanoma treatment which involves injecting the patient with Photofrin. Once this is done a laser beam is used to cause the drug to go into action. This is the one therapy that is the most painless and has a least amount of side effects than any other form of melanoma the treatment other than a nutritional approach.
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