Melanoma is a type of skin cancer. It's the least common but also the most dangerous. Like all types of skin cancer, it's easy to prevent. Protect your skin from the sun. And be sure to help kids protect their skin. Getting bad sunburns as a child is the leading risk factor for melanoma. To access your Melanoma Cancer Risk completely, at ScienceofLife we have produced a general questionnaire with a fair knowledge of risk Factors and related knowlegebase.

• Risk Factors
• Fact Analysis

Risk factors : Most scientists agree that these things affect the risk of melanoma. Some may apply to you, but others may not.

• Age?
• Physical features?
• Sunburns?
• Immunosuppressive drugs?
• Family history?

Age and melanoma : The risk of melanoma goes up with age, yet it tends to develop earlier in life than many other cancers. The average age at diagnosis is 57.

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Physical features and melanoma : People who have light-colored hair, light-colored eyes, or fair skin have a higher risk of melanoma. This is because people with these features often have low levels of pigment in their skin and are more likely to get sunburned. Pigment gives skin its color. High levels of pigment make skin darker and help protect it from the sun. Sunlight can cause skin cells to become cancerous.

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Sunburns and melanoma : People who have severe, repeated sunburns as children have a higher risk of melanoma. This is because sunburns in childhood can cause skin cells to become cancerous later in life. Sunburns as an adult also raise the risk of skin cancer.

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Immunosuppressive drugs and melanoma :People who've taken immunosuppressive drugs have a higher risk of melanoma. After an organ transplant, these drugs prevent the body from rejecting the new organ. But they also prevent the body from responding to cell growth. This means that when a person is taking them, their skin cells can grow out of control and become cancerous.

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Family history and melanoma : People who have a mother, father, brother, or sister with melanoma have a higher risk of the disease. This is because some cases of melanoma are linked to mutations in the genetic structure (DNA) of the body's cells. These mutations can be passed on from generation to generation. With many diseases, people who have a family history have a higher risk. A family history raises the risk of several cancers like lung, breast, prostate, colon, bladder, uterine, ovarian, kidney, stomach, pancreatic and other types of skin cancer. It also raises the risk of diabetes, bone loss (osteoporosis) and stroke. 

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Fact Analysis

• What is Melanoma?
• How common is Melanoma?
• Who is at risk for getting Melanoma?
• How do you prevent Melanoma?
• What is the screening test for Melanoma?
• What are the syptoms of Melanoma?

What is melanoma? Melanoma is a type of skin cancer. It's the least common but also the most dangerous. It begins in skin cells called melanocytes. Melanocytes grow in groups and form moles. Most moles are not cancerous. But when melanocytes grow out of control, they become melanoma. Melanoma accounts for 4% of all skin cancer. The other types of skin cancer are called basal cell cancer and squamous cell cancer. They are less dangerous than melanoma because they are highly curable. The skin is the body's biggest organ. It protects us against sunlight, injury and infection. It also regulates body temperature. It has 2 main layers: the outer layer (epidermis) and the inner layer (dermis).

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How common is melanoma? About 47,000 Americans are diagnosed with melanoma each year. About 1.3 million Americans are diagnosed with other types of less serious skin cancer.

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Who is at risk of getting melanoma? Anyone can get melanoma. The risk usually goes up with age. And people with light-colored hair, eyes and skin have a higher risk than people with darker coloring. People with a family history of melanoma also have a higher risk.

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How do you prevent melanoma?

• Protect your skin from the sun.
• Be sure to protect the kids in your life as well.

What are the symptoms of skin cancer? The main symptom of melanoma is an unusual mole. Signs of an unusual mole are:

• It changes in size, shape, or color
• Half of the mole does not look like the other half
• The edges of the mole are uneven, ragged, or notched
• The mole is not evenly colored.
• The mole has different shades of tan, brown, or black and may have patches of red, blue, or white
• The mole is wider than a quarter of an inch – about the width of a pencil eraser