Types of Skin Cancer: Melanoma
Melanoma skin cancer
This disease develops in the melanocytes, skin cells that produce melanin that gives color. Melanocytes are found in the epidermis, layer of outer skin.
Melanoma is the type of skin cancer less common and more severe. You can easily spread to other parts of the body through blood or lymphatic system. If diagnosed early, the prognosis is better.
It can occur from existing moles, or a new formation, small, pigmented, appearing in an area of normal skin.
Will have to consult with your doctor if you notice a change in the size, shape or color of a mole. Or a mole that is swollen or painful to the touch or oozing or bleeding.
In general, the men usually on the trunk and in women, is more common in the lower legs. They tend to have clear skin. Can occur in people with darker skin, in areas of the hands, soles of the feet and under nails. In some rare cases, melanoma can occur in other tissues other than skin, such as the bowel or into the eye.
Melanoma accounts for 4% of all skin cancers. But due to malignancy, is responsible for approximately 79% of deaths from skin cancer.
The number of people affected by this type of cancer has increased in recent years. Spain has increased more than three men and a little more than two women, in the last twenty years. In the U.S., the number of cases has doubled since 1973, and an estimated 6,000 people a year.