Skin cancer: Dermatologists treat Melanoma in Charlotte NC

What is a Melanoma

Melanoma is skin cancer in which cancerous cells form on the areas of the skin which are textured or pigmented differently than the rest of the skin. This can be scary if you live in south Charlotte NC and want to find a top dermatologist to help. Examples of such areas include moles or sun-damaged areas of the skin. Exposure to sunlight can greatly increase the chances of cancerous cells forming in parts of the skin. This is also why sunscreen is highly recommended when leaving the house.

How a Melanoma is diagnosed

Oftentimes people don’t notice any changes to their moles as this is the last thing on their minds. Due to this, a Melanoma often goes undiagnosed for quite a long period of time until it becomes a very serious matter. It is therefore extremely important to keep a check and balance on your body for any changes and to inform your dermatologist in Charlotte NC if anything seems out of the ordinary. If a mole or pigmented area of the skin changes or looks abnormal, the following tests and procedures can help find and diagnose melanoma:

• Physical exam and health history: An exam of the body to check general signs of health, including signs of lumps or anything else that seems unusual. A history of the patient’s past illnesses and treatments will also be taken.
• Skin exam: The dermatologist will check the skin for moles, birthmarks, or other pigmented areas that look abnormal in color, size, shape, or texture.
• Biopsy: This is a procedure to remove the abnormal tissue of the skin and a small amount of normal tissue around it. It is then analyzed to check for cancer cells. If the abnormal mole or lesion is cancer, the sample of tissue may also be tested for certain gene changes.

Treatment of Melanoma

Different types of treatment are available for patients with melanoma. Some treatments are standard and some are being tested in clinical trials. A treatment clinical trial is a research study meant to help improve current treatments or obtain information on new treatments for patients with cancer. When clinical trials show that a new treatment is better than the standard treatment, the new treatment may become the standard treatment. Currently, the following treatments are used for melanoma:

• Surgery: Surgery to remove the tumor is the primary treatment of all stages of melanoma. Wide local excision is used to remove the melanoma and some of the normal tissue around it. Skin grafting may be done to cover the wound caused by surgery.
• Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy is a cancer treatment that uses drugs to stop the growth of skin cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing.
• Radiation therapy: Radiation therapy is a cancer treatment that uses high-energy x-rays or other types of radiation to kill cancer cells or keep them from growing. External radiation therapy uses a machine outside the body to send radiation toward the area of the body with cancer.
• Immunotherapy: Immunotherapy is a treatment that uses the patient’s immune system to fight cancer. This cancer treatment is a type of biological therapy.
• Targeted therapy: Targeted therapy is a type of treatment that uses drugs or other substances to identify and attack specific cancer cells. Targeted therapies usually cause less harm to normal cells than chemotherapy or radiation therapy does.

Top dermatologists in Charlotte NC for skin cancer

If you notice an abnormal patch of skin or an area that doesn’t look like how it used to, contact Dermatology Specialists of Charlotte, Charlotte’s top Ballantyne and Blakeney Dermatologist, for your dermatology care.