According to the American Cancer Society, about 47,700 new cases of melanoma will be diagnosed in the U.S. this year. It can be very deadly quickly invading underlying tissues and spreading throughout the body. Death rates have increased 44 percent since 1973. This year alone, about 7700 Americans are expected to die from melanoma. In many cases, the first sign of melanoma is a change in the size, shape, color, or texture of a mole.
Melanomas tend to have jagged, irregular, or poorly defined edges.
It may contain shades of black, tan, brown, white, gray, red, pink, or blue. Often the size of the mole has increased, becoming larger than the diameter of an eraser at the end of a pencil. The primary treatment for melanoma is surgery removing as much of the cancer as possible and a small margin of surrounding healthy tissue. Researchers are testing another gene-based treatment which helps the body s own immune system recognize and fight the cancer. The drug is injected directly into the site of the tumor and is absorbed by the tumor cells.