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Melanoma / Skin Cancer Community

Skin Cancer Foundation

Reply: Still in Shock

Dealing with hundreds of patients each month, I often come across different...

Posted by Michael W Steppie, MD

2 Replies | Reply | Watch This DiscussionReport This| Share this:Still in Shock Dealing with hundreds of patients each month, I often come across different...

Skin Cancer Foundation

Reply: White Mole

Moles, brown spots and growths on the skin are usually harmless — but...

Posted by Michael W Steppie, MD

1 Reply | Reply | Watch This DiscussionReport This| Share this:White Mole Moles, brown spots and growths on the skin are usually harmless — but...

Skin Cancer Foundation

Have You Been Treated with Mohs Surgery?

Well over a million skin cancers occur in the United States per year and...

Posted by Michael W Steppie, MD

1 Reply | Reply | Watch This DiscussionReport This| Share this:Have You Been Treated with Mohs Surgery? Well over a million skin cancers occur in the United States per year and...

Skin Cancer Foundation

Reply: Did You Tan Before Being Diagnosed?

Routinely visit your dermatologist for a skin exam. An actinic keratosis (AK)...

Posted by Michael W Steppie, MD

3 Replies | Reply | Watch This DiscussionReport This| Share this:Did You Tan Before Being Diagnosed? Routinely visit your dermatologist for a skin exam. An actinic keratosis (AK)...

Skin Cancer Foundation

Reply: What does this melanoma diagnosis mean?

Melanomas fall into four basic categories. Three of them begin in situ...

Posted by Michael W Steppie, MD

Melanomas fall into four basic categories. Three of them begin in situ — meaning they occupy only the top layers of the skin — and sometimes become invasive; the fourth (nodular melanoma) is often invasive from the start. Invasive melanomas are more serious, as they have penetrated deeper into the skin and may have spread to other areas of the body.

Superficial Spreading Melanoma
Lentigo Maligna
Acral lentiginous melanoma
Nodular melanoma

Early melanomas (Stages I and II) are localized, and more advanced melanomas (Stages III and IV) have spread (metastasized) to other parts of the body. There are also subdivisions within stages.

Once the disease has advanced to Stage IV, melanoma cells have traveled through the body via the bloodstream or lymph vessels, going far from the original tumor site. They may have reached distant lymph nodes or invaded the internal organs. This can be in addition to or instead of in-transit metastases or local spread to the regional lymph nodes. In local forms of the disease, the metastases can reach skin or subcutaneous tissue more than 2 cm from the primary tumor, but not beyond the regional lymph nodes.

When distant metastases are suspected, they can be traced by scans of the chest, head, abdomen, and pelvis with a CT (computed tomography) scan in which special X-ray equipment and a computer program show a cross-section of body tissues or organs; an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan that uses a magnet instead of X rays to create a map of the patient's body and brain; and by PET (positron emission tomography), an evolving radiographic technique. For PET scanning, radioactive sugar, the basic carbohydrate utilized by the body for energy, is injected intravenously into the patient. This sugar may be taken up rapidly by any melanoma cells that are present.

You can learn more about the stages of melanoma at http://www.skincancer.org/melanoma/Stages-of-Melanoma.html .View Thread

Posted byMichael W Steppie, MD

2 Replies | Reply | Watch This DiscussionReport This| Share this:What does this melanoma diagnosis mean? Melanomas fall into four basic categories. Three of them begin in situ...

Skin Cancer Foundation

Reply: Melanoma on hand. Need some advice

I frequently get asked about the final outcome of a surgery. Melanoma can...

Posted by Michael W Steppie, MD

8 Replies | Reply | Watch This DiscussionReport This| Share this:Melanoma on hand. Need some advice I frequently get asked about the final outcome of a surgery. Melanoma can...

Skin Cancer Foundation

Did You Tan Before Being Diagnosed?

Hi, I am Michael Steppie, MD , board-certified in Dermatology/Internal...

Posted by Michael W Steppie, MD

3 Replies | Reply | Watch This DiscussionReport This| Share this:Did You Tan Before Being Diagnosed? Hi, I am Michael Steppie, MD , board-certified in Dermatology/Internal...

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