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“Maybe it’s because I’ve been going out a lot lately… I think I have more moles?” Mr. A examined every inch of her face and his neck. That’s because I’ve heard that if the shape or color is strange, it could be skin cancer, not just a mole.
However, even after searching on the Internet, it was not easy for Mr. A, who is not a doctor, to distinguish whether the moles on his body were skin cancer or simple moles. However, I felt like I was getting in trouble for going to the doctor because I had a lot of moles.
After worrying for several days, Mr. A finally went to hospital. Luckily, they said it wasn’t skin cancer. The doctor said, “Many people come to us because they think the shape of the mole is strange, but most of the time there is no problem” and taught us a simple way to distinguish between a mole and breast cancer. skin.
In fact, according to dermatologists, there are many people like Mr A who visit hospitals because they have strangely shaped moles. However, most people walk away after hearing that it is a simple point.
What they are afraid of, saying, “It looks like skin cancer,” refers to melanoma, a type of skin cancer. Among cancers that occur in the skin itself, melanoma is the second most common cancer after basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.
Gapseok Lee, professor of dermatology at Chung-Ang University Hospital, said: “Basal cell cancer and squamous cell cancer are cancers that originate from keratin-producing cells in our body, and melanoma is a cancer that occurs develops into cancer through the transformation of melanocytes that produce skin color.” “There are patients who come to the hospital because they might be confused between a mole and a melanoma, but melanoma is particularly common in the West, and in Korea about 500 people are diagnosed with melanoma every year,” he said.
According to Professor Lee, there is the “ABCD rule” to distinguish whether it is a melanoma or a nevus. If there is a problem with △Asymmetry △Border △Color △Diameter, melanoma can be strongly suspected.
Appearance of melanoma. Each small scale is 0.5 mm, so the size of this melanoma is about 8-9 mm. (Provided by Professor Gapseok Lee)
Professor Lee said: “Asymmetry, which is A, means asymmetry, and the point is relatively round or oval, so it has good symmetry.” He added: “There are many cells that make up this spot, but only a small part of them develop into cancer. Then, the cells gather in a circle “Only those that have developed into cancer continue to grow in size, breaking down the round shape and becoming jagged, breaking the symmetry,” he said.
In the case of Border, which refers to an edge, you need to check whether the edge of the point is clear or blurry. Professor Lee explained: “Moles often have clear borders, but as the melanoma continues to spread, the borders appear blurry, as if paint is spreading. And he added: “Whether this border is clear or not is also one of the important criteria”.
Cancer can also be distinguished by the color of the mole. Moles often have a color, but melanoma has a “bright color.”
Diameter, meaning the diameter of a circle, is also a good standard. Once the nevus grows to a certain point, it stops growing, but in the case of melanoma it continues to grow. As a result, in the West, 6 mm is used as the standard to distinguish melanoma from cancer.
Professor Lee explained: “The ABCD is important, but in addition E (Evolution), meaning ‘change’, is the most important standard” and added: “When a point is created and its size or shape changes continuously, it is an unpleasant sign.”
It’s also good to keep the “ugly duckling” in mind. Most moles appear concentrated at a certain age and show similar patterns, but if one of the moles sticks out, it may be a melanoma or an “ugly duckling,” rather than a simple mole.
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However, in the case of Koreans, melanoma occurs more often on the palms, heels, ball of the foot, fingernails and toenails than on the torso and legs as in Westerners.
Professor Lee said: “It appears in the form of black lines on the fingernails and toenails. In this case, you can look at C (color) and E (change) in ABCDE. He added: “If the width of the black lines continues to enlarge and the color becomes stronger, there is a high probability that it is melanoma.”
Melanoma can be seen with the naked eye, so you might not consider it a very dangerous cancer, but News 1 reported that it is a scary cancer famous for not responding well to traditional cancer drugs.
Professor Lee said: “If you consider the stage of the cancer, up to stage 2, if the melanoma is removed to about 1cm, the treatment will be completed and the 5-year survival rate will be more than 90%. However, starting from stage 3”. , when lymph node metastases have occurred, recurrence is unlikely even after surgery. “It works well, but melanoma is unique in that the anticancer drugs that can be used are very limited, and even if anticancer drugs are used, survival is 5 years. the rate is only about 20%,” he said.
He pointed out: “However, recently, expensive immunotherapy drugs tend to work surprisingly well, but melanoma is a cancer for which early diagnosis is more important than anything else.”
He continued: “It’s good to look at places you don’t usually look at, like the soles of your feet, and if there are any problems, it’s a good idea to see a doctor immediately. However, the key is to check the important spots for melanoma rather than having too afraid of moles.”
#moles #skin #cancer
