Oncology & Cancer

Enhanced melanoma vaccine offers improved survival for men

A second-generation melanoma vaccine being developed at UVA Cancer Center improves long-term survival for melanoma patients compared with the first-generation vaccine, new research shows. Interestingly, the benefit of the ...

Oncology & Cancer

Social media can boost melanoma detection, research suggests

Early detection is key to treating melanoma, and social media can improve people's ability to identify early warning signs of the deadly skin cancer, according to a new study by University of Oregon researchers and colleagues.

Oncology & Cancer

AI-based app can help physicians find skin melanoma

A mobile app that uses artificial intelligence, AI, to analyze images of suspected skin lesions can diagnose melanoma with very high precision. This is shown in a study led from Linköping University in Sweden where the app ...

Melanoma

Melanoma i/ˌmɛləˈnoʊmə/ (from Greek μέλας - melas, "dark") is a malignant tumor of melanocytes. Melanocytes are cells that produce the dark pigment, melanin, which is responsible for the color of skin. They predominantly occur in skin, but are also found in other parts of the body, including the bowel and the eye (see uveal melanoma). Melanoma can occur in any part of the body that contains melanocytes.

Melanoma is less common than other skin cancers. However, it is much more dangerous and causes the majority (75%) of deaths related to skin cancer. Worldwide, doctors diagnose about 160,000 new cases of melanoma yearly. The diagnosis is more frequent in women than in men and is particularly common among Caucasians living in sunny climates, with high rates of incidence in Australia, New Zealand, North America, Latin America, and northern Europe. According to a WHO report, about 48,000 melanoma related deaths occur worldwide per year.

The treatment includes surgical removal of the tumor, adjuvant treatment, chemo- and immunotherapy, or radiation therapy. The chance of a cure is greatest when the tumor is discovered while it is still small and thin, and can be entirely removed surgically.

This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA