The Difficulty Of Finding Mucosal Melanoma

A melanoma can show up anywhere on your body, but they usually develop in places that have been exposed to the sun. That is especially common on the face, back, shoulders, legs, and arms of a person because those are the places that get the most direct exposure to the sun. It is also possible that melanoma shows up in a place that does not receive much or any sun, including the soles of the feet, palms of the hands, and even in the beds of the fingernails. These types of melanomas are hidden but are much more common in people who have dark skin. While melanoma starts in the skin and can spread to other parts skin, it can also spread to other parts of the body. Mucosal melanoma is one example of an illness that spreads in this fashion.

Explaining mucosal melanoma

No matter where it occurs on the body, melanoma comes from pigment cells that are called melanocytes. The cells produce melanin, which give the skin color. The color of the skin protects the body from damaging ultraviolet rays that come from the sun. The cells can transform in cancerous cells. When this transformation happens, it can end up causing cancerous melanoma. Even though the normal melanocytes exist in the skin, they also exist in other parts of the body, like in the mucosal surfaces. The mucosal surfaces form the lining of the nasal passage, the oral cavity, and other passages in the body that need natural lubrication. Just as the other melanocytes in the skin can become cancerous, it is also possible for mucosal melanoma to develop.

The discovery of mucosal melanoma

This illness was first found in the 1850s, but it is still not very well known or understood because it is so rare. Of all the cases of melanoma in the United States, for example, less than five percent were mucosal melanoma. When this rare condition is finally discovered, it usually appears in the head and neck region, especially in the esophagus. Even though both types of melanoma originate from melanocytes, they differ in how they affect the body. For example, most cases of melanoma come directly from exposure to the sun, especially when the patient is very young. In the other type of melanoma, doctors still do not understand what exposures are the major risk factors. The relationship to family history and heredity is also not entirely clear.

Diagnosing mucosal melanoma

Most cases of melanoma cannot be removed surgically. That is also the case in mucosal melanoma. Another difficulty is that this type of melanoma is quite difficult to diagnose because it is so rare. Therefore, doctors generally do not suspect that a patient will have this type of illness. Unfortunately, many of the cases are already too far advanced by the time they are identified. Even in cases where there is a possibility to do a surgery, melanoma often has a tendency to come back. There are many charitable organizations that are dedicating a lot of research to solve this problem, but there are still many challenges remaining.