Malignant Melanoma Research Paper

Malignant melanoma is a form of skin cancer that forms in melanocyte cells in the basal layer of the epidermis which produce melanin that gives human their skin, hair, and eye color. Malignant melanoma grows malignant tumors due to DNA damage to the skin cells probable to UV radiation that causes mutations and sets off skin cells to multiply rapidly and form these malignant tumors. Melanomas are closely similar to moles making it difficult for a person to distinguish from a normal mole to a malignant mole or melanoma. Most melanomas are black or brown in color, but some can also be pink, red, purple, blue, or even white. Melanoma has 5 stages, stage 0 and 1 being localized; stage 0 is noninvasive while stage one has invaded the skin but it’s a small mole. Stage 2 is localized, larger moles, may be ulcerated. Stage 3 and stage 4 are more advanced and have metastasized to other parts of the body such as lymph nodes.
Potential causes for malignant melanoma are: sun exposure (UVA and UVB rays are harmful to the skin), having lots of moles (at risk of having melanoma), skin type (having lighter hair and eye color is an increased risk), weakened immune system (in result of chemotherapy, organ …show more content…
When a person uses this rule suspecting a mole to be abnormal they are looking for the following: A for asymmetry, is the mole symmetrical? B for border, are the borders of the mole jagged or blurry? C for color, is the mole more than one hue (color or shade)? D for diameter, is it larger than 6mm? And finally E for elevation, does it raise unevenly above the surface? If one or more of these questions are yes, then the person should go see a doctor in order to have confirmation. A doctor’s diagnosis would be: getting medical history, physical exam, skin biopsy, and biopsies of lymph nodes to check for spread of melanoma if already diagnosed in