
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, May 17, 1994                   TAG: 9405170089
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

WHAT'S A MALIGNANT MELANOMA?

The most serious skin cancer is malignant melanoma. While relatively rare, melanoma's incidence ``is rising faster than any other cancer,'' said Howard Koh, director of cancer prevention and control at Boston University Medical Center.

The rate of new cases increased 321 percent between 1950 and 1989. Malignant melanoma arises from melanocytes, cells in the bottommost part of the epidermis, the top layer of the skin. They release the protein melanin, which gives skin its color and protects against sunlight, giving skin its tan.

For reasons not yet understood, malignant melanoma spreads rapidly to nearby lymph nodes, where it gains ready access to the entire body through the lymph system.

Detected at less than 1/16 of an inch thick and less than a dime in diameter, melanoma can be cured in 92 percent of cases, specialists said. But with delayed diagnosis, five-year survival rates drop dramatically. Only about 14 percent of those with distant spread live five years after diagnosis.

``The bottom line is that the death rate from melanoma is rising despite everything that we are doing,'' said Darrell Rigel, assistant professor of dermatology at New York University.

Among the people who have the greatest risk of melanoma include those who have a family member diagnosed with the disease, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation. Also at increased risk are people who experienced painful or blistering sunburns as children or teen-agers; those who have unusual moles on their skin or moles that change often; and people with fair skin, light hair and eye color who sunburn easily or tan with difficulty.

Among the signs of melanoma are moles or spots on the skin that have asymmetrical borders, uneven colors and large diameters.

by CNB