Detect and Act during the Skin Cancer Early Stages
Receiving a diagnosis that you have skin cancer is usually taken very hard. You probably do not know what you can do next as decisions hare hard to make in such an unnerving time. Luckily, the chance of you surviving skin cancer is usually very good as long as it was detected early.
The best chance of keeping skin cancer under control is to be aware of your skin and notice any changes early enough to catch it before it progresses. Your odds of beating it greatly improve if you are proactive and catch it early.
In the first stages of skin cancer you will find out whether you have a non-melanoma skin cancer or a melanoma skin cancer. Early stages for both of these have a very good prognosis for survival. A basal cell carcinoma is very rarely spread beyond a second stage so the prognosis is very good if this is the type of skin cancer that you have.
Being diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer it can be scary. The good news is with early detection the stage I and stage II survival rate is very good, almost 100% for 5 years. However, if it’s found at stage 3 the survival rate drops to 60%. This stresses the importance for early detection, as it’s the biggest cure for melanoma skin cancer.
It is absolutely vital that you regularly check your skin at least once a month. A doctor should also see you regularly so that your skin can be checked as a part of your normal physical. If you notice anything suspicious on your skin you should have it checked out by a doctor immediately. This is especially true if you have a mole or discoloration that is changing shape and or color.
If you have a wound that will not heal, it could possibly be melanoma. Check with your doctor as to what to look for when conducting a self inspection of your skin. Knowing what to look will make it a lot easier to report any condition that may be of concern.
While skin cancer first appears, it averages about a pea-sized growth, it steadily grows larger and can spread to other organs or tissue throughout the body. At this point, removal and treatment becomes difficult and the risk of death increases.
Filed under Skin Cancer Early Stages by on Jan 31st, 2010. Comment. 
