Prevalence of Melanoma in Australia-Free-Samples for Students

Question: Discuss about the Melanoma. Answer: Introduction This scholarly paper will discuss melanoma which is a dangerous form of cancer. The prevalence of melanoma is high in some countries such as Australia and the U.S. and can be managed with several treatments. Surgical excision and radiotherapy are the forms of treatments that will be addressed in this paper. Melanoma Melanoma is a deadly but treatable type of cancer if detected and treated at an early stage. This form of cancer occurs from melanocytes (skin cells). The clinical manifestation of melanoma is the development of a mole (Bristow, Berker, Acland, Turner, Bowling, 2010). A mole can develop in any part of the body. However, in men, it tends to develop in the back while in women it tends to occur in the legs. Most melanomas are caused by exposure to UV light (Goodson Grossman, 2009). The development of melanoma is uncommon before puberty. The incidences of melanoma rise as a person approach 15 years and peaks at about 30 years (Bristow, Berker, Acland, Turner, Bowling, 2010). In most cases, it is not possible to detect melanoma at the early stages. Prevalence of melanoma in Australia In 2007, 10342 cases of melanoma were detected in Australia. 1279 people died from melanoma in the same year. This population comprised of 864 males and 415 females. From 1968 and 2007, about 29,825 individuals died from melanoma. The high prevalence of melanoma in Australia is attributed to the exposure to UV light. The most common kinds of melanomas in Australia are acral and nodular (Sneyd Cox, 2013). Due to the geographical location of Australia, the incidences of melanoma might continue to increase. Prevalence of Melanoma in the United States One study revealed that there were 76,690 incidences of Melanoma in 2013 (Ji, Baze, Davis, Feldman, Fleischer, 2013). Between 1992 and 2004, there were only 70,596 incidences of melanoma (Linos, Swetter, Cockburn, Colditz, Clarke, 2009). In men, the incidence of melanoma is increasing at 154.4 percent while in women the incidence is rising at 90.2 percent. Melanomas are more prevalent in whites than in Hispanics, Asians and Black Americans. 65 percent of the cases of Melanoma in America occur in persons aged 55 years and above. One in every 37 men has a chance of developing melanoma. On the other hand, one in every 56 females has the risk developing melanoma. Between 1990 and 2004, the mortality rate due to melanoma increased by 0.4 percent (Linos, Swetter, Cockburn, Colditz, Clarke, 2009). Two treatment methods Surgical excision Surgical excision is among the most effective treatments for melanoma. Once a person is diagnosed with melanoma, a wide surgical excision is required. This treatment option is supported by the fact that melanoma cells extend several millimetres or centimetres. Thus, the visible malignant melanoma is not usually the actual tumour. Surgical excision aims to control local recurrence (Mun, 2012). Excision is conducted based on the available clinical trials for primary tumours. Empirical studies suggest that wide excision is linked with minimized chances of local recurrence. The existing evidence suggests that there are no thin melanomas and minimal excision might not improve the condition of the patient (Lens, Nathan, Bataille, 2007). Most surgeons advocate for excisions of 0.5 cm to manage melanoma. Depending on the size of the melanoma, an excision of 1.0 cm might be proposed (Mun, 2012). Amputation may also be done based on the anatomical location. Even though providers debate on the depth of the excision, it should reach the muscle fascia. Radiotherapy Although melanoma is thought to be a radioresistant tumour, radiotherapy has been found to yield success. This therapy is beneficial for symptomatic metastases. Individuals with CNS metastases have higher chances of getting success from radiation therapy. Radiation therapy results in success in patients with CNS metastases because systemic therapies fail to penetrate into the CNS (Bhatia, Tykodi, Thompson, 2009). Radiation therapy is also used if excision is thought to have low success. Radiotherapy has been used for radiosurgery for melanoma brain metastases, plaque brachytherapy for uveal melanoma, intensity modulated radiotherapy for melanoma of the head and neck (Khan, Khan, Almasan, Macklis, 2011).In the future, radiotherapy will be used more for high-risk patients. Conclusion As discussed in this paper, melanoma is a form of cancer which is rare before puberty, but causes significant disease burden. The incidences of melanoma are increasing in the U.S. and Australia due to exposure to UV light. Despite its severity, melanoma can be treated through excision and radiotherapy if detected early. References Bhatia, S., Tykodi, S. S., Thompson, J. A. (2009). Treatment of Metastatic Melanoma: An Overview. Oncology (Williston Park) , 23 (6), 488-496. Bristow, I. R., Berker, D. A., Acland, K. M., Turner, R. J., Bowling, J. (2010). Clinical guidelines for the recognition of melanoma of the foot and nail unit. Journal of foot and ankle research , 3 (1), 25. Goodson, A. G., Grossman, D. (2009). Strategies for early melanoma detection: approaches to the patient with nevi. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology , 60 (5), 719-735. Ji, A. L., Baze, M. R., Davis, S. A., Feldman, S. R., Fleischer, A. B. (2013). Ambulatory Melanoma Care Patterns in the United States. Journal of skin cancer , 689261. Khan, M. K., Khan, N., Almasan, A., Macklis, R. (2011). Future of radiation therapy for malignant melanoma in an era of newer, more effective biological agents. OncoTargets and therapy , 4, 137-148. Lens, M. B., Nathan, P., Bataille, V. (2007). Excision margins for primary cutaneous melanoma: updated pooled analysis of randomized controlled trials. Archives of Surgery , 142 (9), 885-891. Linos, E., Swetter, S. M., Cockburn, M. G., Colditz, G. A., Clarke, C. A. (2009). Increasing burden of melanoma in the United States. Journal of Investigative Dermatology , 129 (7), 1666-1674. Mun, G.-H. (2012). Management of Malignant Melanoma. Archives of plastic surgery , 39 (5), 565-574. Sneyd, M. J., Cox, B. (2013). A comparison of trends in melanoma mortality in New Zealand and Australia: the two countries with the highest melanoma incidence and mortality in the world. BMC cancer , 13 (1), 372.