Melanoma mole

A skin mole is a common occurence on the body, a growth that is usually black or brown, flat or rounded appearing on the surface of the skin since childhood. Moles can grow hair, disappear or stay exactly the same in shape, size and color throughout a person's lifetime. But when does a skin mole become a melanoma mole, indicating that skin cancer is present? There is an easy rule of thumb to remember in order to detect a melanoma mole on the body. The letters A, B, C and D stand for the changes in size, shape and color that will be noticeable when a skin mole turns into a melanoma mole requiring medical intervention. The first way to recognize melanoma mole is asymmetry, changes in the even fashion in which the mole has developed. If you divided the mole in half, one half should be the same shape as the other. When one area of the mole starts growing and changing shape, asymmetry takes place and is a cancer warning sign. Border changes in a regular skin mole is another warning signal, indicating that the normally well-defined border of a mole has now become irregular, misshapen or ill-defined, signaling that the growth of cancer cells is most likely taking place. Color changes in a skin mole from black and brown to any shade of red, white or gray is an important indicator that the skin mole has morphed into a melanoma mole requiring medical attention. Any changes in a mole's diameter, particularly those happening after the age of 20, is the fourth sign that a possible melanoma mole exists. Surgical excision, or removing the melanoma mole from the body is a common treatment for melanoma mole that can be done under local anesthesia as an out-patient procedure. Chemotherapy is another treatment advised, administered orally with pills or intravenously by injection, for more severe cases of melanoma mole. Immunotherapy is another proven melanoma mole treatment that helps the patient's own immune system destroy the cancer cells. Radiation is another successful treatment if a melanoma mole returns or has spread to other areas. Early detection using the ABCD parameters, along with early treatment is the best remedy for eliminating melanoma moles and preventing them from doing further damage to other organs.