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Melanoma Chemo

Sun, Jun 7, 2009

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Melanoma is a type of cancer that affects the skin and is recognized by the dark spots that appear on the dermis. These skin surface formations do not represent the only symptoms of the disease, more conclusive tests are performed before passing the initial cancer diagnosis and establishing a potential treatment. Melanoma chemotherapy represents a first option to fight skin cancer. Anyway, patients should consider these treatment variants extensively by learning all the can on the implications. Proper information on the alternative treatments is the first step. The procedure will normally be established depending on the disease evolution and the thickness of the primary tumor.

Among the treatments for melanoma there are options like surgery and chemotherapy. The diversity of choices increases when it comes to determining the most advantageous form of surgery for the evolution and the location of the melanoma. Thus doctors might consider re-excision, amputation or lymph node dissection. Unfortunately, if besides melanoma, the cancer has spread to organs as well, surgery will not be the solution. Therefore, melanoma chemotherapy might be the solution. Systemic chemotherapy that the procedure involves relies on injectable anticancer drugs.

Drugs are either administered intravenously or orally. Melanoma chemotherapy drugs get carried to all the body parts by blood. They attack cancer cells which have already spread beyond the skin to lymph nodes or other organs. The same medication that kills the tumor will also damage some healthy tissues too. The blood producing cells in the bone marrow, the hair follicles and the cells in the gastrointestinal tract represent the first collateral victims of the chemical cancer bombarding. As a result, patients will go through temporary side effects like nausea and vomiting, mouth sores, loss of appetite and loss of hair.

Melanoma chemotherapy drugs include temozolomide, cisplatin, vinblastine, DTIC, BCNU and tamoxifen. DTIC can be used alone or with other chemotherapy drugs like BCNU and cisplatin. DTIC, BCNU and cisplatin combined with tamoxifen, which is a hormonal medication commonly used in treating breast cancer, bear the name Dartmouth Regimen. Then melanoma is also treated by a combination of vinblastine, cisplastin and DTIC. To give one other melanoma chemotherapy drug example, we ought to refer to temozolomide, a modern medication administered orally.

Since melanoma chemotherapy drugs kill normal blood cells as well, anemia would be certainly diagnosed and this can lead to bleeding or bruising after even minor cuts or injuries, excessive tiredness (experienced because of the anemia and the medical treatment in itself) and an increased chance of infection (because of white blood cell shortage).

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6 Comments For This Post

  1. cerebral200 Says:

    CNN viewers are well informed?

  2. ScootyPuffSr Says:

    Probably not a hysterectomy at her age. Possible, but unlikely if she had cervical cancer, in which case laparoscopic removal would be harder to gain clear margins and do lymph node dissection. In her case something like pelvic inflammatory disease (due to previous STI), ectopic pregnancy or looking for endometriosis would be more plausible, maybe even some liposuction. All of these have similar scars as the camera goes through the belly button (for pelvic surgery) and the instruments go through the 2 lateral scars.

  3. polica Says:

    RT 2 of his sons diagnosed with pyloric stenosis, it affects the gastrointestinal tract. It can cause the infant to vomit forcefully & often.

  4. wer mcin Says:

    All tests from the doctors have come
    Back conclusive: "you're an idtiot". Am recovering with friends now. Thank you for the well wishes!

  5. buettani Says:

    New blog post Disease Evolution: The Example of HIV here:

  6. rindl Says:

    K2 Pedia! | Breast Cancer Sentinel Node Surgery Is An Effective Alternative To Axillary Lymph Node Dissection | Node, Surgery, Effective, Ly

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