Melonoma Cancer Treatment
Melanoma, most commonly known simply as skin cancer, affects a large section of the population worldwide, with an ever expanding number of patients. Thanks to the modern phenomenon of depletion of the ozone layer and increasing amounts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, bare skin is often exposed to harsh UV rays of the sun which would earlier be blocked by the atmosphere. While some races are more commonly affected, the treatment modality followed is universal and effective only if the cases are reported in the earliest possible stage.
In the initial stages, melanoma affects only the surface of the skin and is relatively easier to excise. Later, if the patient fails to report to the doctor or if the doctor fails to recognize the cancer for what it actually is, the cancerous growth starts to spread, starting from the surface down to the deeper layers of the skin, and then finally into the deeper connective tissue, the muscles, the bones and blood, lymph nodes etc. It must be kept in mind that from the lymph nodes, cancer can easily spread to distant parts of the body, and lymphatic spread is one of the major routes of metastasis of cancer, the other being blood and direct inoculation.
Therefore, the first step towards a successful treatment plan is proper and correct STAGING and GRADING of the cancer. This helps the medical professionals to communicate with each other about the degree of spread of the cancer and also to chalk out a treatment plan, treatment procedure or procedures and more importantly for the patient, to calculate with a fair certainty, the prognosis of the case.
Treatment is based according to the stage of the cancerous growth. Therefore, the various treatment options and procedures are explained along with the grade or the stage of the cancer they are used to treat most frequently. Remember, in all the following cases, where the surgical excision has been extensive, a reconstruction procedure always follows, either immediately after excision or after a certain amount of time, as decided by the surgeon.
Stage O melanoma
Stage O melanoma is called melanoma in situ because it has failed to spread or has not advanced to the stage of metastasis. This can be easily treated with the help of conventional or laser surgery. This primary melanoma is excised along with a surrounding safety margin of at least 1 to 2 cm of healthy tissue.
Stage II melanoma
Stage II melanoma can be treated like stage I melanoma, namely, by surgical excision, with the exception that a stage II melanoma generally requires lymph nodal biopsy, along with additional chemotherapy to rule out any invasive action of the cancer cells.
Stage III melanoma
Stage III melanoma requires more extensive excision, surgical resection and removal of certain lymph nodes. This is also accompanied by chemotherapy and biologic therapy with interferon.
Stage IV melanoma
Stage IV melanoma is a very advanced stage. It has generally poor prognosis, and is never limited to the skin, but invades vital tissue and distant organs. A combination of radical resective surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy is indicated.