Chemo is the short word for chemotherapy — the use of drugs to fight cancer. The drugs may be given into a vein or taken as pills. These drugs go into the blood and spread through the body. They kill cells that are fast growing cancer cells and good cells like blood cells and hair. Chemo is given in cycles or rounds. Each round of treatment is followed by a break. Most of the time, 2 or more chemo drugs are given. Treatment often lasts for many months.
Chemo can make you feel very tired, sick to your stomach, and cause your hair to fall out. But these problems go away after treatment ends. There are ways to treat most chemo side effects. Radiation uses high-energy rays like x-rays to kill cancer cells. Radiation is not usually used to treat the main spot on the skin. But it may be used after surgery to help keep the melanoma from coming back.
If your doctor suggests radiation treatment, talk about what side effects might happen. The most common side effects of radiation are:. Most side effects get better after treatment ends.
Some might last longer. Talk to your cancer care team about what you can expect. Clinical trials are research studies that test new drugs or other treatments in people.
They compare standard treatments with others that may be better. Clinical trials are one way to get the newest cancer treatment. They are the best way for doctors to find better ways to treat cancer. And if you do sign up for a clinical trial, you can always stop at any time. If you would like to learn more about clinical trials that might be right for you, start by asking your doctor if your clinic or hospital conducts clinical trials.
While surgery is usually the first choice for treating melanoma, surgery can be too risky for some patients. Other times, surgery cannot remove the cancer. If surgery is not right for you, your dermatologist or oncologist will talk with you about your options. You can learn more about the different treatments for melanoma at, Melanoma: Diagnosis and treatment.
Observation or more treatment may be recommended for a patient in any stage. Early melanoma: You begin observation.
The risk of melanoma returning or spreading is low. Still, there is a risk. Thicker melanoma: Most patients begin observation. Your dermatologist will watch your skin very closely. Melanoma found in a lymph node or lymph vessel, or the cancer has spread further advanced melanoma : Another type of treatment often follows surgery. The U. One type of medication targets and disables cancer cells that have certain mutations changes.
About half the people who get melanoma have a mutation called a BRAF mutation. Immunotherapy is another type of medication used to treat advanced melanoma, usually after surgery. These medications help your immune system find, attack, and kill melanoma cells. Different treatments work for different patients.
Other options for treating advanced melanoma after surgery include radiation therapy or chemotherapy. Some patients with advanced melanoma may want to consider joining a clinical trial, a study that looks at the safety and effectiveness of a new treatment. After you finish treatment, your dermatologist or oncologist will still want to see you regularly. Melanoma can return or spread after treatment. You may have a check-up every 3 to 12 months in the beginning.
This varies with the stage of your melanoma. These can help find cancer that has returned or spread. Anyone who has had melanoma has a higher risk of getting another melanoma. You should have this exam at least every year. Some patients need to be followed more closely.
To fully comprehend the significance of timing, it can be helpful to understand exactly what happens to a melanoma when it advances to a later stage, and what it means when a melanoma spreads beyond the original tumor site. A melanoma in its earliest stages is localized. The very earliest melanomas stage 0 do not even extend past the top layer of the skin, the epidermis. If a tumor penetrates deeper, into the dermis, it is considered invasive stages I and II.
On average, the estimated five-year survival rate for melanomas detected while still localized is very high: about 99 percent in the U. The chances of curing a melanoma drop sharply once it spreads, or metastasizes, beyond the original tumor site. Normally, the first place a melanoma tumor metastasizes to is the lymph nodes, by literally draining melanoma cells into the lymphatic fluid, which carries the melanoma cells through the lymphatic channels to the nearest lymph node basin.
Melanoma skin cancer is the 5th most common cancer in the UK. Around 16, new cases of melanoma are diagnosed each year.
More than 1 in 4 skin cancer cases are diagnosed in people under 50, which is unusually early compared with most other types of cancer. Over recent years, skin cancer has become much more common in the UK. This is thought to be the result of increased exposure to intense sunlight while on holiday abroad. See a GP if you notice any change to your moles. They'll refer you to a specialist clinic or hospital if they think you have melanoma.
In most cases, a suspicious mole will be surgically removed and closely examined to see whether it's cancerous. This is known as a biopsy. A biopsy usually involves removing a small sample of tissue. But in cases of melanoma, the whole thing is usually removed from the beginning.
You may also have a test to check if melanoma has spread to your lymph glands nodes. This is known as a sentinel node biopsy. Read more about diagnosing melanoma. The main treatment for melanoma is surgery, although your treatment will depend on your circumstances.
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