HHO News

Your skin is something you don’t always include when you think about your health. However, years of sun damage and wear-and-tear can do a number on your largest organ. In fact, in some cases, it can lead to skin cancer. But did you know that seemingly harmless moles can also contribute to melanoma, a form of skin cancer?

At Hunterdon Oncology and Hematology, our team of experts helps you determine your risk for melanoma. Leading our team are five oncology and hematology specialists, who not only treat melanoma, but other types of skin cancer as well.

What is melanoma?

Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that’s typically caused by overexposure to harmful UV rays from the sun. It’s a very aggressive form of cancer and can be deadly if it’s not found and treated early.

Melanoma gets its name because this type of cancer originates in your melanocytes, cells that make melanin, which gives your skin its pigment. Melanoma is most often found on areas of your skin that are exposed to sunlight, including:

• Legs
• Arms
• Face
• Back

Sometimes, it can even show up in areas that don’t see a lot of sun, like the bottoms of your feet and your fingernail beds. In rare cases, this type of cancer may also be found in your eyes, nose, or throat.

So are you at risk for melanoma? If you use tanning beds or are regularly exposed to sunlight, you’re at a higher risk for this disease. There are other risk factors as well, some of which include:

• Fair skin
• Frequent sunburn
• Family history
• Weak immune system

Another risk factor for melanoma is a large number of ordinary-looking moles on your body. If you have more than 50 moles, you’re at a higher risk for developing melanoma.

How moles and skin cancer are linked

Normally, moles on their own aren’t dangerous. Moles are simply a cluster of melanocytes that grow together to form a darker pigmented spot on your skin. Most adults have some moles, which are usually found in areas that get sun exposure.

A normal, noncancerous mole is about the size of a pencil eraser or smaller, and is oval or round in shape. It also has a regular edge and is smooth the whole way around.

So how are moles and melanoma linked? If your moles are regularly shaped, you don’t have much to worry about. However, in some cases, you may have something called a dysplastic nevus, which is basically an irregular-looking mole.

Dysplastic nevi aren’t usually cancerous, but you should keep a close eye on them to make sure they don’t change. To avoid finding melanoma too late, be sure to check your moles at least once a month, and look for changes like:

• Becomes itchy
• Becomes scaly
• Changes in size
• Bleeds or oozes
• Changes in shape
• Changes in texture

Moles that become lumpy or hard to the touch are also a concern. If you have any moles that show signs of any of these changes, it’s important to contact our team for an evaluation. The earlier you find these changes, the earlier melanoma can be diagnosed and treated if that’s the case.

When it’s found early, before it has a chance to spread, melanoma is usually curable. The best way to stay ahead of melanoma is to avoid excess UV light exposure and to check your moles regularly to assess for changes.

If you have any moles that you’re worried about, please don’t hesitate to call our office in Flemington, New Jersey at 908-788-6461, or schedule an appointment online with one of our amazing doctors today.

Skin cancer is something everyone should be aware of over the course of a lifetime. Melanoma is the most serious type of skin cancer, and it’s important to know what it looks like so you can seek medical care as soon as possible to prevent its spread.

Here at Hunterdon Hematology Oncology in Flemington, New Jersey, our expert oncologists explain the warning signs — commonly known as the ABCs of melanoma — and risk factors so you can get proper treatment in its early stages.

Melanoma isn’t common, but it spreads easily

You mostly hear about skin cancer in the summertime, but even in the fall and winter months, it’s just as important to protect your skin when you’re outside. Melanoma isn’t the most common type of skin cancer, but it can be the most dangerous type because of how quickly it can spread to other parts of your body if not treated soon enough.

There are several types of skin cancer that begin on the top layer, or epidermis, of your skin. These include:

• Basal cell carcinoma
• Squamous cell carcinoma
• Melanoma skin cancers

Melanoma skin cancer begins in the cells in your skin that normally make melanin — the tan color in your skin. These cells are called melanocytes. When you spend time in the sun or on a tanning bed, the ultraviolet (UV) radiation causes skin damage, which makes melanocytes produce more melanin.

If your skin absorbs too much UV radiation, or you get a bad sunburn, mutations can occur in the melanocytes that prompt these cells then grow out of control. The result is melanoma skin cancer. If not treated, melanoma may spread out of control and form a mass of cancerous cells.

Who’s at risk for melanoma?

According to the American Cancer Society, melanin helps protect the deeper layers of your skin from the harmful effects of the sun. If you’re naturally darker-skinned, you have less risk of developing melanoma, but it’s still possible. Fair-skinned people and women under age 40 are in the high-risk categories for developing melanoma.

Other risk factors include:

• Family history of melanoma
• Weak immune system
• History of sunburns
• Excessive UV radiation exposure
• Having unusual moles

People who’ve lived closer to the equator or in an area of high elevation also have a greater risk of developing melanoma.

Recognizing the signs of melanoma: Know your ABCs

Melanoma typically develops on areas of your body that have the most sun exposure, such as:

• Arms and legs
• Face and neck
• Chest and back

You can also get melanoma on the soles of your feet, palms of your hands, or even in your fingernails. When you know what to look for, you can seek treatment and decrease your risk of melanoma spreading throughout your body.

The first signs of melanoma often appear as a change to an existing mole or the development of a new, unusual-looking skin growth. The letters ABCDE can help you determine if you should seek medical care for a potential melanoma:

A is for asymmetry

Examine the moles and blemishes on your body to see what shape they are. Do you notice a mole that is asymmetrical in appearance? Melanoma could look like a mole made up of different irregular shapes.

B is for border

Do you have a mole with an irregularly shaped border? If most of the freckles and spots on your skin appear round, but you notice one that has a jagged edge, for example, that is a sign that it could be melanoma.

C is for color

A third indication of melanoma is the changing or uneven color of a mole or growth on your skin. Melanomas come in a variety of colors, including blue-black, pink, red, or brown. A melanoma may even appear white.

D is for diameter

Moles larger than a quarter-inch in diameter may be signs of melanoma. Don’t ignore the size of a mole. It’s best to get it checked out by one of our expert physicians before it continues to grow deeper into your skin.

E is for evolving

Do you notice a mole that seems to be changing over time? Changes may include color, size, and irritation, such as itching or bleeding.

Preventing melanoma and other skin cancers

While there’s no guaranteed method of completely preventing melanoma and other types of skin cancer, you can take precautions to reduce your risk. These include:

• Limiting your exposure to UV rays
• Wearing sunscreen all year long
• Staying in the shade
• Wearing a hat and sunglasses
• Avoiding tanning beds

It’s a good idea to perform self-exams regularly to note any new moles, changes to your skin, and other growths that may indicate the presence of skin cancer.

If you notice anything unusual when watching for the ABCs of melanoma, schedule an exam with the expert team at Hunterdon Hematology Oncology as soon as possible, so we can evaluate your skin, diagnose any problems, and recommend an effective treatment plan. Call our office at 908-264-1798 to book an appointment today.

At one time in the not-so-distant past, a cancer diagnosis was something close to a death sentence. That is far, far less true these days. As our understanding of the wide variety of cancers grows, and the spectrum of treatment options widens, a cancer diagnosis is no longer regarded as a death sentence. In fact, there is now a great deal of realistic hope for a long and healthy prognosis.

While we may have a ways to go in fully understanding the underlying mechanisms of cancer and in creating effective treatment options for all of them, we have in fact learned much about how cancer works, about what makes some forms of cancer more survivable than others, about what diagnosis procedures have the most promise in helping to create a near-guarantee of survival, and what treatments provide an extremely positive prognosis (estimate of outcome). Here’s a snapshot: the following table illustrates how much has changed in the cancer landscape, and what cancers are most “survivable”.

Table 1. The most survivable cancers according to the US SEER database of cancers diagnosed between 2005 and 2011.

So, what are the most important factors in determining whether a particular form of cancer has a higher (or lower) rate of survivability? Let’s take a look at 3 of the top factors.

1. Early detection of cancer means earlier treatment and a higher cure rate

In other words, how soon do you feel sick? If unpleasant, odd or unusual cancer symptoms manifest early on in its development, it has a much higher chance of being detected early on in its growth and development. Then, it has a much higher chance of being effectively and completely treated. This is very good news.

First, if the cancer is located in a solid tumor and has not spread when detected, it can much more easily be completely removed/destroyed by the surgeon’s knife or effectively treated with some type of targeted radiation therapy.

Second, if the cancer is a blood cancer (and thus not removable by surgery), if it’s detected early on, hope is quite high for an effective treatment. Blood cancers tend to manifest unpleasant symptoms early in their life, so they tend to be detected and diagnosed early on in the process of disease progression. Again, this contributes to a high probability of very effective treatment.

2. The more diverse a cancer’s acquired mutations, the more resistant the cancer is to treatment

This factor overlaps with the first one to a degree. The longer a cancer progresses along undetected, the larger the number and more diverse the acquired genetic mutations that will accumulate. And in general, the greater the diversity of genetic mutations, the more likely that one or more of those mutations will prove to be resistant to non-surgical therapy.

So, early detection means more effective treatments and higher rates of survival. Cancers that are detected early on tend to have a smaller, limited number of mutations, making it more likely that a non-surgical treatment (e.g. chemotherapy) will be effective in targeting and killing the cancer cells.

Thus, earlier detection of solid-tumor cancers means a smaller degree of diversity of mutations. This means that early treatment has a greater chance of success, whether that treatment is surgery or a non-surgical treatment such as chemotherapy.

As mentioned earlier, immune system (blood) cancers tend to have unpleasant symptoms quite early in the cancer’s progression, which results in early detection. Again, this means that the cancer has had only a relatively short time (a few months to a few years) to accumulate treatment-resistant genetic mutations. And again, this means that non-surgical treatments for blood cancer such as chemotherapy have a much higher chance of success.

3. Indolence (slow growth) is a good thing

Certain cancers, such as prostate cancer and thyroid cancer, tend to be very slow-growing. Autopsies done in the US have shown that around 80% of men over 70 years old have some cancer living in their prostate; however, few of them died from this! Small nodules (tumors) of cancer living in the thyroid are so commonplace that they are looked upon as “normal”! Autopsy studies have shown that around 8% of the US population have minute nodules of thyroid cancer, which were not the cause of death either. All of these cancers are very slow-growing.

Let’s look at how these factors play out in several common cancers.

Skin Cancer

Skin cancer has a 99.9% 5-year survival rate, and it’s not hard to understand why. First, while skin cancer is quite common, it is also very easy to remove surgically. Second, since they are on the surface of the skin, skin cancers are also quite easy to detect, early on in the progression of the cancer. Early detection means early treatment, which means a high survivability rate. Surprisingly, this includes melanomas, which are one of the most mutated forms of all the cancer types, and which spread easily to almost anywhere in the body. Yet, the overall 5-year survivability rate for skin melanomas is 98%. Again, this is due to early detection of a skin anomaly or lesion, early skin cancer diagnosis, and early skin cancer treatment (i.e. surgical removal).

Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer has a 99% 5-year survivability rate. This is because prostate cancers tend to be indolent (slow-growing): they either grow very, very slowly or do not grow at all. This often results in a treatment regimen called “watch and wait,” which means frequent exams to determine if the cancer has changed in any way, such as getting larger or more aggressive. If no change is detected, nothing is done until the next exam. If any change is detected, prostate cancer treatment is generally addressed through surgery or targeted radiation therapy, such as tomotherapy.

Thyroid cancer

Thyroid cancer has a 5-year relative survival rate of 98–100 percent at stages 1 and 2. The thyroid is a gland in the neck that produces hormones to support healthy bodily functions.

Most thyroid cancers grow slowly, which allows more time for treatment to take place. Even when cancer spreads into surrounding tissues in the throat, removing the thyroid gland can be an effective method of eradicating it.

Conclusion

These three cancers are just a sample of those with a greatly improving outlook for a cancer diagnosis and its ultimate prognosis. We are no longer in the dark about many of the underlying mechanisms and processes of cancer and its development, and we are learning more about them every single day. New medications, new forms of chemotherapy, new forms of radiation therapy, immunotherapies, and even more forms of treatment are just beyond the horizon. And we are here to support you in accessing these new and powerful cancer treatments.