Melanoma is a malignant tumor that develops from cells that synthesize pigments - melanins. This is a very dangerous tumor that can be localized in the retina of the eye, mucous membranes, but more often in the skin. How to treat melanoma, and also what new methods of melanoma treatment are successfully applied to date, we will consider further.
Early diagnosis - successful treatment of melanoma
It is unfortunate that, according to the survey, many patients with melanoma notice alarming symptoms for a long time (sometimes more than a year), but either ignore them, or at first use melanoma treatment at home or folk remedies. Sometimes even an experienced specialist finds it difficult to determine the initial stage of malignant degeneration of a birthmark. To clarify the diagnosis requires a biopsy with histological examination.
Modern and non-invasive methods for studying the structure of the skin are available, based on digital and computer technologies (epiluminescent microscopy, fluorescence diagnostics, multispectral scanning, etc.). To identify the generalization of processes, the detection of metastases use photoacoustic, ultrasound, tomographic studies.
Methods of treatment of melanoma
What exactly causes the development of melanoma - is not known until now, only factors that increase the risk of the disease are identified. However, it is encouraging that in the treatment of melanoma medicine has made some progress and today it is possible to cure the disease completely, but so far only at the initial stages.
The main method of treating melanoma is surgical. At the initial stages this method appears as the only and sufficient method of cure. Thin melanomas can be removed once, if they do not grow to the lymph nodes . But even in such cases, further regular diagnostics is required to ensure that the disease has not returned.
At later stages, when the tumor is thickened, it has a significant effect on the body. Therefore here, except for surgical, other methods are required: chemotherapy , immunotherapy and radiation (radiation) therapy.
- Chemotherapy is aimed at blocking the molecular processes of accelerated division of tumor cells.
- Immunotherapy is based on the administration of antitumor and immunostimulating drugs, which can stop the spread of metastases.
- Radiation therapy - the destruction of cancer cells by ionizing radiation - is used in later stages, with distant metastases.
If there is a suspected lesion of lymph nodes located near the tumor, a biopsy of one of them is performed; in case of its defeat, remove all the lymph nodes of this area.
New treatment for melanoma abroad
The availability of high-quality, innovative equipment allows us to improve standard treatment technologies and invent new ones by conducting various tests. Today, medical tourism is gaining popularity, which allows receiving treatment for melanoma and other diseases abroad - in Israel, Germany, China, etc.
Among the new methods of treating melanoma abroad are:
- Cryo- and laser destruction , photodynamic therapy (for melanoma removal).
- Vaccinotherapy is the use of vaccines containing viruses that can attack malignant cells without affecting the healthy.
- Gene therapy is the most promising method,
which involves using special drugs to suppress the gene responsible for the division of malignant cells and tumor growth.
Folk methods of melanoma treatment
Treatment of melanoma should be carried out only in the conditions of a specialized institution, no folk methods in this case are applicable. This can not only delay the receipt of professional assistance, which is so important in the early stages of the disease, but also significantly exacerbate the situation.