MELANOMA – INTRODUCTION
Australia has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world and of the Australian states Queensland, with its abundant sunshine heads the list.
This is because of the damage done to the fair skin of most Australians, unequipped by nature to deal with the climate of this continent.
Most of the skin cancers are only locally malignant and rarely spread. The exception is malignant melanoma. This is a cancer of the pigment producing cells of the skin, the melanocytes.
These cells are also found in the retina, the film of nerve endings in the eye which receive the light impulse and in the meninges, the covering tissue of the brain. Melanoma can occur in these areas as well.
This form of cancer is increasing throughout the world and over the last 35 years it has increased some 300 per cent in men and some 600 per cent in women. Why this is so is unknown.
Most melanomas occur in a pre-existing pigmented mole but a few develop from melanocytes in the skin where no previous mole was visible.
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Tags: General health