Rare Medical News
5 Facts you should know about
Melanoma
1
New cases of melanoma are increasing annually at almost 6%
It is estimated that the number of new melanoma cases diagnosed in 2021 will increase by 5.8 percent.
2
Melanoma can be colorless
While it’s true that many melanomas are dark brown to black in color, some melanomas have no color and appear as pink spots or bumps.
3
The majority of melanoma-related deaths occur in patients initially diagnosed with early-stage disease
There are an estimated 130,000 patients diagnosed with invasive, non-metastatic cutaneous melanoma annually in the US. Most of these patients (estimated to be more than 100,000) are diagnosed with early-stage (Stage I-II) disease. Despite recent advances in treatment, the majority of melanoma-related deaths occur in patients initially thought to be low risk.
4
The false-negative rate of the SLNB procedure is reported to be between 5-21%
While SLNB provides prognostic information the procedure has significant limitations including no survival benefit, low sensitivity, and a surgical complication rate of 11%.
5
Genomic testing more accurately identifies high-risk melanoma tumors than traditional staging alone
When compared with traditional staging, genomic testing can provide a more accurate and personalized assessment of the risk of tumors metastasizing or recurring.
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