Melanoma is the most well known of the "bad" skin cancers. For decades the only proven treatment for melanoma was to cut it out when it was hopefully thin enough to metastasize, but now there is new evidence emerging that may eventually lead to improved ways of preventing the development before it ever develops. Additionally, two new treatments are promising for people whose melanomas were not found before spreading.
It is hard to believe, but good evidence that sunscreen prevents melanoma only emerged in the last year. Australian scientists gave some people sunscreen and told others to follow their normal sun practices. The people who wore sunscreen on a daily or near-daily basis developed 50% few melanomas than the people who used no other sunscreen.
Other interesting areas of prevention for melanoma include aspirin, ibuprofen and oral Vitamin D. Like with sunscreen use, people who took low-dose aspirin had half the melanoma risk of people who took a placebo. It is probably too early to say that people who take aspirin definitely have a lower risk, because this study was just the type that can establish an association, not a cause. We will probably have more clear recommendations in the next few years when the appropriate studies can be done.
The best treatment for melanoma is to catch it early and cut it out. If that does not work then some people get chemotherapy, but for decades the chemotherapy has been lousy, for lack of a better word. Two new medications, though, are bringing hope to people with advanced melanoma. One of the medicines, named ipilimumab, helps immune system cells "recognize" the melanoma. The other medication, vemurafenib, affects the melanoma cells directly by blocking an enzyme named BRAF (pronounced bee-raf), which makes the cells divide. Not all melanoma has that enzyme, but in the cancers that do, this medication has exciting potential. This is an exciting time to be treating patients with a disease that has been all but hopeless for my whole life.
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