Skin Cancer Awareness Month and What Parents Should Know About Melanoma
He squiggles and squirms, protesting the “goop” his mother has in hand to smear all over him, right down to the soles of his feet. And when it gets in his eyes, it burns. And yet…
Sunscreen is as important for our children as it is for us, and May has been set aside as Skin Cancer Month, with May 3rd established as Melanoma Day, to remind us all of that fact-and then some.
That’s because melanoma is the fastest growing form of cancer in the United States, and is now the sixth and seventh most common cancers in men and women, respectively.
True, skin cancers are seldom seen in youngsters, but they do still occur-and one form, melanoma, is deadly, says Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
The statistics are grim:
• Melanoma accounts for up to 3% of all pediatric cancers.
• Melanoma is seven times more common in those between 10 and 20, than newborns and 10-year-olds.
• Melanoma is the most common cancer in children, followed by basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas.
• 90% of pediatric melanoma cases occur in girls, 10- to 19-years old.
• Melanoma in children and adolescents represents about 1% of all new cases in the U.S. annually.
• One blistering childhood sunburn/tan doubles the chances of developing melanoma later.
Early detection is essential, so be on guard and memorize the ABCD’s of melanoma:
A ~ stands for asymmetry, where one half of the mole doesn’t match the other half.
B ~ stands for border, where the edges are ragged or irregular.
C ~ stands for color, with the coloring varying throughout.
D ~ stands for diameter, with the mole’s diameter appearing larger than a pencil eraser.
And while genetics plays a role, so, of course, does the sun-big time. Actually, most of us get more than 50% of our lifetime ultraviolet dose by the time we turn twenty, so protect your children by…
Preventative Measures:
1. Generously applying sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30 everywhere that might be exposed to the sun-even on cloudy days.
2. Reapplying sunscreen every two hours-and after perspiring or swimming.
3. Avoiding the midday sun-10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
4. Always keeping infants under six months old out of direct sunlight.
5. Having your child wear a brimmed hat and protective clothing.
6. Putting sunglasses on your child to protect his/her eyes and eyelids.
7. Remembering that sand and snow can reflect up to 85% of dangerous rays.
And don’t forget: whatever applies to children, applies to you, too, so respect the dangers of the sun’s rays and act accordingly.
Carol is a learning specialist who worked with middle school children and their parents at the Methacton School District in Pennsylvania for more than 25 years and now supervises student teachers at Gwynedd-Mercy College. Along with the booklet, 149 Parenting School-Wise Tips: Intermediate Grades & Up, and numerous articles in such publications as Teaching Pre-K-8 and Curious Parents, she has authored three successful learning guidebooks: Getting School-Wise: A Student Guidebook, Other-Wise and School-Wise: A Parent Guidebook, and ESL Activities for Every Month of the School Year. Carol also writes for examiner.com; find her articles at http://www.examiner.com/x-6261-Montgomery-County-Wise-Parenting-Examiner For more information, go to http://www.schoolwisebooks.com or contact Carol at carol@schoolwisebooks.com.
“harry”
Facts About Melanoma Chemotherapy
by Dr. Bill Ackart
Surely you will learn a thing or two by reading the following article.
Melanoma is a type of cancer that affects the skin and is recognized by the dark spots that appear on the dermis. These skin surface formations do not represent the only symptoms of the disease, more conclusive tests are performed before passing the initial cancer diagnosis and establishing a potential treatment. Melanoma chemotherapy represents a first option to fight skin cancer. Anyway, patients should consider these treatment variants carefully, without rushing into one of them. Proper information on the alternative treatments is the first step. It is obvious that the choice of the procedure depends on the thickness of the primary tumor and the stage of the disease mainly.
Among the treatments for melanoma there are options like surgery and chemotherapy. There are different choices in as far as surgery is concerned, depending on where and how advanced the melanoma is. Thus doctors might consider re-excision, amputation or lymph node dissection. If melanoma has spread from the skin to distant organs, then surgery will not be a curable option to use. Therefore, melanoma chemotherapy might be the solution. Systemic chemotherapy that is normally involved in the procedure uses injectable anticancer drugs.
Drugs are either administered intravenously or orally. Melanoma chemotherapy drugs get carried to all the body parts by blood. The direct impact of the active substances will be on the cancer cells affecting skin, organs and lymph nodes. The same medication that kills the tumor will also damage some healthy tissues too. The blood producing cells in the bone marrow, the hair follicles and the cells in the gastrointestinal tract represent the first collateral victims of the chemical cancer bombarding. Consequently, all sorts of side effects will become manifest from mouth sores, nausea and vomiting to hair loss, anemia and many others.
Melanoma chemotherapy drugs include temozolomide, cisplatin, vinblastine, DTIC, BCNU and tamoxifen. DTIC can be used alone or with other chemotherapy drugs like BCNU and cisplatin. The above three combined with tamoxifen, which is a hormonal therapy drug commonly used in treating breast cancer, bear the name Dartmouth Regimen. Then there is another combination of DTIC, cisplatin and vinblastine to use against melanoma. Temozolomide is a newer medicine, whose mode of function is similar to that of DTIC, except that it is used in the form of a pill.
Since melanoma chemotherapy drugs have a damaging impact on normal blood cells as well, patients might experience low blood cell counts and this can lead to bleeding or bruising after even minor cuts or injuries, fatigue (frequently because of low red blood cell counts but also because of chemotherapy itself) and an increased infection risk (because the number of blood cells drops too).
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