Melanoma Detection Process

Unlike other cancers which we can develop, melanoma can often be detected on the skin which allows doctors to treat it at its early stages resulting in less complications and lower death rates to patients, again if left undetected at its early stages this can easily spread to distant areas and distant organs. Once melanoma has spread to other areas of the body which is classified as stage IV it is diagnosed as

Melanoma is the most serious type of skin cancer. You can get melanoma from the sun, it can be genetic or from tanning beds. Melanoma is mostly on skin, but also found in eyes, under nails, and sometimes found in organs. It’s increasing to a lot of people under the age of 40, especially women. Melanoma can be in many places. Next, the sun and tanning bed increase your chances

There is insufficient evidence to determine how gene expression profiling may be used to guide clinical decisions related to the diagnosis and treatment of cutaneous melanoma. Specifically, it is not known how or whether decisions concerning treatment and surveillance are improved over the current standard of care, and it is unknown whether health outcomes are improved as a result those decisions. Further, the clinical practice guidelines from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) recommend against routine prognostic testing for low versus high metastatic risk outside of clinical trials. Thus, the use of DecisionDX Melanoma gene expression profile testing is considered investigational for guiding clinical decisions related to the diagnosis and treatment of any condition.

Acral Lentiginous Melanoma or ALM is a rare subtype of melanoma that occurs more often in people of color. It accounts for 2 to 3 percent of the all of the world’s cases of melanoma (Bradford). Dr. R. J. Reed in 1976 was the first to describe it as the appearance of dark lesions on the hands and feet. Radial or lentiginous was the main phase of its growth that lasts several years then it changes into a vertical or dermal invasive stage (Bradford). Several universities have released results on tests on ALM but since it is rare it was difficult for the research groups to get solid information because of small sample sizes. Nonetheless, studies by scientists such as Dr. R. J. Reed we able to determine that the survival rate for three years with the melanoma was on average at 11% (Bradford).

In a depiction of Los Angeles set in 2019 A.D., former police officer Rick Deckard is apprehended by active officer Gaff, who brings him to see his previous supervisor, for whom Deckard worked as a “blade runner.” A blade runner’s occupation is to hunt down artificial organisms referred to as “replicants” and retire them (kill them). It is explained to Deckard that four such replicants have made their way to Earth, and he is tasked with retiring them. Replicants were engineered by the Tyrell Corporation, and used as an expendable labour resource. Replicants have a fixed four-year life span.

Once the melanoma’s type has been recognised the next step is to classify them based on their respective severity. This classification is known as the stage. Each stage defines how far the melanoma has penetrated inside the skin and the thickness of the malignant moles and the spreading of the disease. The stage is used to determine the kind of treatment used to diagnose the patient.

Melanoma is a serious type of skin cancer, causing up to 75% cancer-related deaths and is usually occurs due to exposure to UV rays of the sun. The chances are increased with sunburn episodes especially during childhood. It developed from the pigment cells known as melanocytes, a layer of cells producing melanin which protects against the damaging rays of the sun. Sometimes, these pigment cells increase in size and become cancerous melanoma. It didn’t show any particular symptoms, however, it is related to the changes associated with moles, gives ‘ABCDE’ warning signs i.e. Asymmetry, irregular Border, uneven Colour, Diameter, evolution.

The care of patients who have cutaneous melanoma (CM) has undergone a dramatic shift during the past 5 decades. Excision of pre-metastatic; CM has been the overriding goal. because once distant metastases have occurred. prognosis is dismal. Skin awareness and self-examination by patients. screening examinations of the skin, nails, and mucous membranes by physicians, and careful long-term Surveillance of patients determined in be al high risk for CM 'based on identifiable historic and phenotypic traits are having an immediate positive impact on CM. related mortality and CM-related case. fatality rate.

Melanoma is a rare and serious. It begins in the skin and can spread to other organs in the body.

Early detection of melanoma can save many lives and lead to minor cancers (Skin Cancer Foundation, 2009). Patient skin self-examination (SSE), physician-directed total-body skin exams (TBSE), and patient education are the best methods to early detection (Skin Cancer Foundation, 2009). These ways and methods can also help detect cutaneous melanoma, basal cell cancer, and squamous cell skin cancer (Skin Cancer Foundation, 2009). In order to early detect yourself or conduct any screenings, you must know the signs and symptoms of Melanoma. The most common signs are the different kinds of moles: a growing, an unsually looking mole on the skin, and a non-uniform mole which has an odd shape and colors (American Academy of Dermatology, 2015). Another important rule to always follow when looking for signs for this skin cancer is the ABCDE rule (American Cancer Society, 2015). A is for Symmetry, this means that one half of a mole or birthmark does not match the other. B is for Border, the edges are irregular, ragged, or blurred. C is for Color: the color is not always same; it may be different shades of colors. D is for Diameter: the spot is larger than 6 millimeters across. Finally E is for Evolving: The mole is changing in size, shape, or color (American Cancer Society,

Melanoma being the austere form of skin cancer which can be fatal in most cases. Mayo Clinic’s article on the diseases and conditions of melanoma gives good clarity as to what is actually occurring, and how it forms. The article states that what causes melanoma is unclear and hasn’t been discovered but what takes place is the melanocytes that generate melanin cells is agitated by unknown causes which results in the change in pigmentation of the skin or a change in a current mole already present on the skin. Strategies that can help you detect the symptoms of melanoma consist of the letters “A- E meaning A: asymmetrical shape regarding moles, B: irregular boarders, C: change in color, D: diameter, and E: evolving” (Mayo Clinic Staff 2016) Melanoma can appear not only on the skin but underneath a person’s nail, it can affect their eyesight and rarely their internal organs such as the mouth, urinary tract, and digestive tract called mucosal melanoma. These are noted to be hidden

Further, one third of all cancers diagnosed globally are classified as skin cancer. Each year, approximately 132,000 people are diagnosed with melanoma worldwide. (Skin Cancer, 2017). Although less common that other forms of skin cancer, melanoma is much more likely to metastasize, and therefore much more deadly. The researchers at Cancer Research UK state that the incidence of malignant melanoma has grown more rapidly over the last thirty years than any other form of cancer (Upton,

Cancer treatment is one of the greatest benefits of image processing in the medical field. However Melanoma

The world health organization reports every year nearly 1 million peoples are suffered from melanoma. The mortality rate of melanoma is higher when compared to non-melanoma cancer. The death rate of melanoma is increased averagely 2.6% per annual. When the early stage of melanoma detected, we can cure the disease in low treatment cost and it increases the survival rate. The

A popular technique utilized by dermatologists to diagnose melanoma includes dermoscopy, which is a “noninvasive technique for taking high – resolution images of skin lesions by making the superficial layers of the skin translucent.” (Dreiseitl, Binder, Hable, & Kittler, 2009) Dermoscopy is a technique that allows dermatologists to view lesions and moles at a larger magnitude yielding to a more accurate diagnosis through the ABCDE method and Glasgow 7 – point checklist. While dermoscopy has aided physicians in accurately diagnosing melanoma, computer – aided dermoscopy has been proven to have higher accuracy in diagnosing patients. In one study, expert physicians scored a sensitivity of 81% and specificity of 95%, whereas the computer aided dermoscopy scored 93% on sensitivity and 95% specificity. (Barzegari, Ghaninezhad, Mansoori, Taheri, Naraghi, & Asgari, 2005) The high sensitivity and specificity of the computer diagnosis is the result of the lack of bias computers have in comparison to physicians and dermatologists. In computer-aided dermoscopy, the computer compares the patient’s lesions and moles to a database of previously recorded and imputed parameters. Thus, computer diagnosis is accurate to the extent of the set parameters and is reproducible in results as opposed to trained physicians who have variable ranges for specificity and sensitivity due to bias. Similarly, in the dermoscopy of small lesions, expert dermatologists scored an average of 71% sensitivity and 49% specificity whereas the computer vision system achieved 98% sensitivity and 44% specificity. (Friedman, Gutkowicz-Krusin, Farber, Warycha, Schneider-Kels, Papastathis, Mihm, King, Prieto, Kopf, Polsky, Rabinovitz, Oliviero, Cognetta, Rigel, Marghoob, Rivers, Johr, Grant-Kels, & Tsao, 2008) Especially in smaller lesions, the computer vision system had a relatively