HARTFORD, Conn. (WFSB) – An estimated 112,000 people in the United States will be diagnosed with invasive melanoma this year, and more than 8,500 will die of the disease, according to health experts marking Melanoma Monday.
Melanoma is the most serious and deadly type of skin cancer. It frequently appears as a new or abnormal spot, or as a mole with irregular, asymmetrical or multi-colored edges.
If melanoma is not caught early, it can spread to other organs and make the cancer harder to treat. However, if detected early, the disease is highly treatable.
Warning signs to watch
Experts recommend watching for the ABCDEs of skin cancer:
A is for asymmetry: One half of the spot is unlike the other.
B is for border: Edges are irregular, scalloped or poorly defined.
C is for color: Spots have varying colors from one area to the next, such as shades of tan, brown or black, or areas of white, red or blue.
D is for diameter: Melanomas are usually about the size of a pencil eraser but can also be smaller.
E is for evolving: A spot looks different from others or is changing in size, shape or color.
Dr. Harriet Kluger with the Yale Cancer Center said sunscreen alone does not provide complete protection against melanoma.
“I do want to emphasize that sunscreen is helpful but doesn’t completely protect us against melanoma,” Kluger said. “So if you take mice in a lab that are prone to develop melanoma and take half of them and put them under a heat lamp and sunscreen them and the other half are not sunscreened, those that are sunscreened will have less melanoma. But they will develop them nonetheless.”
Sun exposure is the most preventable risk factor for all skin cancers, including melanoma. Experts recommend seeking shade when sun rays are strongest between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
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