Dr. Izzie Stevens illness on Gray's Anatomy shows similarities to real life metastatic melanoma
Diana Clarke
Dr. Izzie Stevens on “Gray’s Anatomy” has been diagnosed with stage IV metastatic melanoma and realizes that she will have only about 10 months to live. As a matter of fact, one American dies about every hour of melanoma.
Melanoma lesions are ragged, blotchy moles that appear on the skin. If left untreated, they can metastasize (spread) throughout the body, sometimes killing people within months. When discovered late, the 5-year survival rate of melanoma is about 15%. Yet the five-year cure rate for early, superficial melanoma is 99 percent.
The American Cancer Society estimates that this year more than one million new skin cancer cases will be diagnosed in the United States and about 8,000 people die each year from melanoma of the skin, the most deadly form of skin cancer.
Who is at risk, and what can be done about it?
Genetics and the immune system play a role, but solar radiation is more likely the major cause of this disease.
If you're Caucasian, you are more susceptible to sun damage because your light skin makes less melanin, the pigment that colors your skin. Melanin acts as a barrier to UV rays by absorbing them and converting them to heat before they penetrate the skin.
Equally important, melanoma is not only caused by years of sun exposure, but also by at least one incident of a severe sunburn during childhood. And most people get 50 to 80 percent of their lifetime exposure while they are children, under age 18. So you can protect your children from cancer in adulthood by carefully shielding them from solar radiation now.
Studies also show that Hispanics and African-Americans in the US are diagnosed when melanoma has already spread because these Americans don’t believe they will get melanoma.
“We hope that earlier diagnosis of melanoma in Black and Hispanic patients at a more favorable or treatable stage will ultimately improve melanoma survival rates in minority populations. Clearly, it is important for people of all races and ethnicities to protect their skin from ultraviolet light and to make an appointment to see a dermatologist at the first sign of a suspicious mole,” said dermatologist Robert S. Kirsner, MD, PhD, FAAD, vice chairman and Stiefel professor in the department of dermatology and cutaneous surgery at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
Santa Clara County
Incidence of melanoma of the skin for 2006 (California Cancer Registry)
All ages and races, both sexes,
300 deaths
Melanoma mortality for 2006
52 cases
What you need to know about Melanoma
Sources: American Academy of Dermatology
National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health
California Cancer Registry
American Cancer Society
American Academy of Dermatology
Photo credit: National Cancer Institute
Home
Last modified: 05/05/09
 |
