Melanoma is a malignant skin cancer that originates from melanocytes, the cells that produce melanin, which is responsible for skin coloration.
Observing one's own skin is a very important shrewdness in the prevention of melanoma because melanoma must indeed be recognized and its main symptom is change over time.
The five rules for recognizing melanoma are:
It is for these reasons that prevention is critical.
The first step in melanoma prevention is to avoid excessive exposure to the sun, which among other things is also an important factor in skin aging. Therefore, it is useful to protect yourself with hats, sunscreen and avoid sunburn.
If proper prevention against melanoma is to be done, however, it is also essential to perform a periodic dermatologic examination with dermoscopy in order to diagnose suspicious or neoplastic lesions at an early stage.
Dermoscopy is a noninvasive diagnostic technique that allows examination of morphological aspects of the mole not visible to the naked eye.
If the dermatologist, during the examination detects an atypical pigmented lesion (a "suspicious" mole), he or she may recommend undergoing a simple outpatient procedure under local anesthesia, that is, an excisional biopsy for diagnostic purposes to arrive at a definitive diagnosis of benignity or malignancy withhistological examination.
