Pocket Guide to Malignant Melanoma

Melanoma is the most life-threatening skin cancer and is linked with excessive sun exposure. Its incidence in the UK is on the increase and it affects a disproportionate number of young people. Preventing and halting the increase in melanoma incidence by the year 2005 is an important "Health of the Nation" objective. GPs and nurses have a key role to play in the prevention of skin cancer by increasing public awareness to the dangers of sun exposure. GPs are also the first port of call for patients who notice any skin changes - early detection is essential for saving lives. Doctors in primary care are aware of this and are therefore concerned about missing potentially malignant lesions. This pocket guide can be used as a background reference to help healthcare professionals become familiar with the appearance of melanoma and its differential diagnosis; and as a just-in-time resource to provide advice on borderline cases, or help in interpreting a pathology report. The emphasis is on diagnosis and differential diagnosis, with these sections being extensively illustrated. The section on histopathology and natural history helps the reader to assess a possible likely outcome depending on the stage of the disease and its spread. Surgery is discussed as this is the main treatment of early disease. The final chapter is one of the most important sections as this cancer can largely be prevented by good health promotion and primary health care professionals are ideally placed to do this.