After first melanoma, a second is quite common
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Some people with melanoma are at increased risk of developing the skin cancer again in the future, especially if they have a family history of the disease, say researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
But second melanomas, if caught early, are easily cured, said Dr. Daniel G. Coit. “The first melanoma is kind of the wake-up call, the second melanoma becomes very much of a curable thing.”
“The message to the public really is that if you have a melanoma, be on the lookout for a second one,” he said. This means, he advised, performing regular self-exams and going to the dermatologist regularly for a skin check.
Coit and his colleagues conducted their study, published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, to investigate risk factors for developing a second melanoma. They followed 4,484 patients diagnosed with melanoma at Memorial Sloan Kettering between 1996 and 2002.
Nearly 9 percent of the patients developed another melanoma, with the greatest risk seen in the first few years after being diagnosed with the original tumor.
Patients with a family history of melanoma had a 19 percent risk of developing a second tumor within five years. The five-year risk for a second melanoma among patients with large moles known as dysplastic nevi—which do not necessarily develop into melanoma but are markers for higher risk—was 24 percent.
Patients who had both dysplastic nevi and a family history of melanoma had a nearly 30 percent risk of developing a second melanoma within five years.
Among patients treated for a second primary melanoma, almost 16 percent developed a third melanoma within one year, while the total risk at five years was 31 percent.
The findings underscore the importance of regular follow-up for patients after melanoma diagnosis and treatment, Coit said. “Our deal here is that the exam is really painless to patients and it’s not like a colonoscopy or mammography or a prostate check,” he said. “This is pretty easy, this is just looking at your skin.”
SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association, October 5, 2005.
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