Nodular melanoma is a type of skin cancer. It's a dangerous form of melanoma that grows quickly.

Just most fifteen% of all melanomas are nodular. But it causes nigh half of melanoma-related deaths. So you need to know the signs. If it's found early on on, doctors may be able to cure it.

What It looks like: A nodular melanoma can look like a mole, problems bite, or pimple. Often, it looks like a circular black bump. Only information technology can be other colors.

nodular melanomaWhere you go information technology: Information technology can happen in any part of your body. Simply unremarkably it appears on the parts of the body that become a lot of sun, such as your:

  • Legs
  • Torso (chest, back, abdomen)
  • Arms
  • Head

What to do: Don't endeavor to pop it. The skin may break open, but in that location'due south no pus inside. You'll just cause a wound. If you take a new growth or spot on your skin that doesn't go away in 5 days, see your doctor.

Symptoms

You might not observe a nodular melanoma since these cancers don't follow the usual alert signs of melanomas.

You've probably heard that yous should await out for moles that take:

  • Asymmetry (in other words, they're lopsided)
  • Uneven borders
  • Different colors
  • Spread or become large

But nodular melanomas are dissimilar. They don't fit those guidelines. They commonly appear equally a circular blackness bump. They can also be bluish, gray, scarlet, or white. And it's rare, only nigh 5% of the fourth dimension, they don't have an unusual colour. They can exist pink, tan, or flesh-toned. The melanoma is often solid in color with even borders.

Causes

Ane chief crusade is the UV light from the daylight and tanning beds. Their rays can harm the skin'southward DNA. This damage can happen over many years or even decades. But not all nodular melanomas are direct acquired past UV rays. Although it'southward less common, they can also develop on parts of your body that aren't exposed to the sun.

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When the Dna in skin cells becomes damaged, new cells can grow out of control. This can lead to melanoma. Experts aren't exactly sure what causes this DNA damage and how it brings on cancer. It'due south probably due to a mix of your genes, lifestyle habits, and UV exposure.

Melanomas develop in the cells that requite your skin its color. About of the fourth dimension, they spread slowly in your skin'southward top layer. But in nodular melanoma, the cancer grows downward. It can get into tissues, bones, and lymph nodes within weeks or months. That's when the cancer is harder to care for.

Who Gets It?

Anyone tin can develop nodular melanoma. Merely it'south more than common in men than women. The affliction is most often institute in men ages 50 and older.

You're more than probable to get the cancer if you take ane or more of the post-obit:

  • A family member who has or had skin cancer
  • Pale pare that burns easily
  • More than than a few unusual-looking moles
  • A history of spending lots of time in the dominicus

Diagnosis

A dermatologist will check your skin. If a spot or bump looks suspicious, you'll get a biopsy. That's when the doctor removes some or all of the growth and sends the tissue to a lab for testing.

A doctor called a pathologist will expect at the tissue and cells under a microscope to check if it's nodular melanoma. The pathologist can also measure the melanoma's thickness, which helps make up one's mind the cancer'south "stage." The thicker the melanoma, the more it has grown into the pare.

If the melanoma is more than 1 millimeter thick, you'll probably get a biopsy of your lymph nodes. This may help doctors observe out if the cancer has spread to other parts of your body.

Treatment

Your treatment will depend on how much the cancer has spread. If the nodular melanoma is caught in a very early stage, your dermatologist volition recommend surgery. A surgeon volition remove the melanoma, plus some of the normal skin surrounding it and a layer of tissue beneath. This may be the merely treatment you need.

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Nearly nodular melanomas are diagnosed later the cancer has already spread. Y'all'll need a different handling. Options may include:

Lymph node surgery: If the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes, a surgeon may remove them.

Chemotherapy: In this treatment, drugs are injected into a vein or taken by pill. They travel through the bloodstream to kill cancer cells.

Radiation therapy: This therapy uses powerful rays, such every bit X-rays, to impale cancer cells. It's sometimes used after lymph node surgery. This is done to forestall the melanoma from returning.

Immunotherapy: These medicines boost your immune arrangement. That helps your body spot and destroy cancer cells. Information technology's often used for advanced melanomas.

Targeted therapy: These drugs target sure parts of melanoma cells. They may work when chemotherapy doesn't. This treatment is only used if yous have a certain genetic mutation. Your doctor will examination your melanoma cells to run across if targeted therapy is correct for you.