Malignant melanoma

Many of you have read the news regarding fish intake and the risk of developing Melanoma. First and foremost, most of you do not have to alter your dietary habits. For most, eating fish will not affect one’s risk for developing melanoma. For those with a personal history of melanoma, especially those whom have had…

To those who are patients and those who follow my posts, you know that I am adamant that there has been an over-treatment of these atypical nevi for decades. In short, the data just does not support the removal of these lesions–PERIOD! Another study was just completed at Emory University (Atlanta) and Atlanta Veterans Administration Medical…

Nearly all melanomas are treated surgically, by cutting the tumor out. Depending upon the thickness (how deep the tumor goes into the skin), staging procedures may be recommended and may include: chest x-ray, CT-scan, PET scan, sentinel lymph node biopsy, and blood tests. Treatment of metastatic disease (that which has already spread to the lymph…

To those who are patients and those who follow my posts, you know that I am adamant that there has been an over-treatment of these atypical nevi for decades. In short, the data just does not support the removal of these lesions–PERIOD! Another study was just completed at Emory University (Atlanta) and Atlanta Veterans Administration Medical…

The use of PDE5 inhibitors such as sildenafil (Viagra), tadalafil (Cialis), and vardenafil (Levitra) are common for those with erectile dysfunction. More and more research has shown an increased risk of some types of skin cancer for those taking these medications. Interestingly, there have been no studies showing an increased risk of squamous cell carcinoma. For this reason, those with a history…

Are we doing more harm than good? This has been a question that we have asked for decades regarding the treatment of malignant melanoma. Over the recent decades, margins of normal skin that are removed when treating melanoma have gotten smaller. Recently, the benefit of lymph node dissection to treat involved lymph nodes has come…

Melanoma in situ is a common tumor, and often affects the elderly. In some cases, surgery can be extremely extensive and/or patients are not good surgical candidates. For years, Dermatogists have been offering topical imiquimod (Aldara) to these patients as an alternative to surgery, with the full understanding that it is not as good as…

A recent meta-analysis and data from the 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Survey concluded that prohibiting tanning bed use for minors could potentially reduce the incidence of melanoma by 4.9% and the number of melanoma deaths by 4.7%. It has been long known that tanning bed use increases the risk of cancer, but these findings are quite alarming….

According to an article published online April 7, 2014 in JAMA Internal Medicine, the use of sildenafil (Viagra, Pfizer) is associated with an increased risk of developing invasive malignant melanoma. Other medications used to treat erectile dysfunction, including Cialis and Levitra, were not studied as they were not approved at the time that this study…

Keytruda (pembrolizumab) was finally approved for the treatment of inoperable malignant melanoma. Testing was never completed as it performed so well in the early clinical trials.