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If you have a suspicious-looking mole or other skin lesion, your healthcare provider will want to check it. Your doctor may ask you questions about these things; if not, bring them up yourself.
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The only way to confirm that a suspicious place on the skin, called a lesion, is cancer is to do a biopsy. Melanoma biopsies are almost always done in a doctor's office or hospital. There are several ways a doctor can take a biopsy. For any type of biopsy, your doctor numbs your skin with a local anesthetic before removing the tissue. You may feel a little needle stick, burning, or pressure for less than a minute. You will be awake but shouldn't feel anything. Which technique your doctor uses depends upon the size and location of the lesion. These are the different ways of doing a skin biopsy.
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Melanoma is a type of cancer. And there are very few things scarier than being told you have cancer. You may feel like you're in shock. You may not even want to believe what the doctor has told you. And there are probably so many questions you want to ask but think you can't because you don't know where to start.
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Most types of melanoma begin in the skin, called cutaneous melanoma. But melanoma can also begin in other organs. It can begin in the eye, called ocular melanoma. These can cause vision loss in all or part of an eye and often spread to the liver if not diagnosed early. Another type of melanoma begins in mucous membranes, such as the mouth, rectum, or vagina. These are called mucosal melanomas.
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Your doctor may request other tests to learn more about your specific type of melanoma. The tests may also tell how widespread the cancer is. Along with previous exams and biopsies, these tests can help your doctor know the stage and prognosis of your disease. They can also help your doctor decide on the best care for you. You may need one or more of these tests. If the melanoma is less than 1 millimeter, you may not need other tests.
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The way a cancer grows, or the way it tends to spread (metastasize) if it leaves the site of the original tumor, is called its pathophysiology. If melanoma grows at the site of the original tumor, it tends to grow in one of 2 ways.
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The biopsy and other tests will help your doctor determine the thickness of the tumor. They will also help your doctor learn the spread of melanoma, called its stage. Melanoma may be located in one specific area of the skin, but it can move quickly to the lymph nodes. Your treatment plan and chance for a good outcome--called the prognosis--depend upon the stage of your melanoma. They also depend upon your general health, the location of the tumor, and whether or not there is ulceration, which is an open wound, at the primary site.
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After diagnosis, one of the most difficult times for people with cancer is the long wait to hear whether their cancer has spread. Everything depends on it--their course of treatment, their quality of life, even their survival.
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A prognosis is a statement about the prospect of surviving and recovering from a disease. It may be hard to ask, "Can I survive this?” But it's a question most people have when they learn they have melanoma. Unfortunately, there isn't an easy answer.
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When found early and treated properly, melanoma is highly curable. These are the facts according to 2006 statistics from the American Cancer Society.
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