黑色素瘤测试, Diagnosis, Prognosis and Stages

Early and accurate diagnosis is essential to melanoma care and successful treatment. Our team of skin cancer experts uses sophisticated pathology and imaging tests to ensure you get the right diagnosis and to personalize your care.

What Screening Tests Are Available for Melanoma?

In addition to practicing sun safety, it’s important to do regular skin self-exams to find potential melanoma early. To do a self-exam, stand in front of a full-length mirror in a brightly lit room. Check all areas of your body, assessing any moles and lesions using the“A-B-C-D-E Rule.”有another person check your scalp and back of your neck.

If you’re at high risk for melanoma due to family history, many atypical moles or precancerous lesions (actinic keratosis) or past skin cancer, your doctor may recommend additional testing.

How Is Melanoma Diagnosed?

Most melanomas are brought to a doctor’s attention because a patient has noticedsigns or symptoms. To verify melanoma, you will need to see a dermatologist, a doctor who specializes in the skin. The dermatologist will ask you questions about your medical history, do a physical examination and may perform a skin biopsy. If the skin biopsy results show melanoma, other tests may be done to determine if it has spread to other parts of the body.

黑色素瘤测试

• Dermoscopy:A handheld device that gives a close-up view of the skin using a powerful microscope and special light.
• Biopsy:In a biopsy, your doctor takes a small sample of tissue for testing in a laboratory. There are several types of biopsies your doctor may choose to do, including a: punch biopsy, excisional biopsy, incisional biopsy and shave biopsy. A biopsy will be able to diagnose and evaluate the melanoma’s thickness – the thicker the tumor, the more advanced the disease. To see if cancer has spread, your doctor may use a sentinel node biopsy (a lymph node dye test to test nearby lymph nodes).
• Imaging tests:X-rays, CT/CAT scan, MRI, PET scan and lymphoscintigraphy are used to see if the melanoma has spread to other areas of the body. These tests often are not needed for very early-stage melanoma.
• Genetic tests:只有大约10％的发展黑素瘤的人都有遗传危险因素。如果有几个血亲属有黑色素瘤，请与您的医生交谈。

What Is the Prognosis for Melanoma?

在早期阶段，黑色素瘤是可观的可治疗 - 但必须快速解决。如果您在皮肤上看到了新的痣或可疑标记，请用皮肤科医生看。

根据美国癌症协会的说法，早期阶段发现的黑色素瘤可具有98％的存活率。今年，估计在美国诊断出超过207,000例黑色素瘤，其中约101,000例案件将是无侵入性的，限制在皮肤上的顶层（原位）。

Melanoma Skin Cancer Stages

医生使用分期来识别皮肤癌是否有多远。这是诊断的重要一步，因为它有助于您的医生确定哪些治疗将适合您。确认诊断后进行分期，并鉴定了黑色素瘤的类型。黑色素瘤分期基于肿瘤厚度，溃疡，位置和扩散到淋巴结或其他器官。

• Stage 0 (non-invasive melanoma or melanoma in situ):在规模的开始，癌细胞仅在皮肤上的最外层（表皮）中。
• Stage I (Stage 1):The tumor is less than2 mm thick and may have ulceration. It has not spread.
• Stage II (Stage 2):The tumor is more than 2 mm thick and may have ulceration. The cancer has not spread.
• Stage III (Stage 3):The tumor can be any size and has spread to the lymph nodes.
• Stage IV (Stage 4):The tumor can be any size and thickness and may be ulcerated. The melanoma has spread (metastasized) to more distant lymph nodes and/or other distant organs.