Mole melanoma or skin cancer belongs to the most common cancers. Its risk factor is high because of the inaccurate diagnoses. The new laser tool with 3D imaging technique gives nearly 100% accurate diagnostic results.
Mole is a skin malformation with high risk of melanoma. The risk factor is similar for both genders. Comparing the cases of males and females, melanoma is the fifth and the sixth most common cancer, respectively. From the 115,000 new melanoma cases in 2010, nearly 8,700 resulted in death in the U.S.
The shocking results were published in 2010. Yearly statistical data showed that pathologists are not agree in the diagnosis on 214,000 to 643,000 melanoma cases. The disagreement is the consequence of the methods dermatologists use. They remove suspicious skin cells and study the biopsies with light microscope, just as their colleagues did it 200-300 years ago. The accuracy of these studies is not higher than 85%. In the cases dermatologists/pathologists are in doubt, they remove the diseased cells with additional skin around them, sometimes lymph nodes are removed, too, or chemotherapy is used. The removal of cancerous moles, the surgery and the chemotherapy change drastically the quality of life of the patients, at the same time cause extra and unnecessary healthcare costs. Unnecessary because in nearly 15% of the cases the studied tissues were not cancerous!
The solution is the more accurate melanoma moles diagnosis. The details of a nearly 100% accurate diagnostic method is reported in February 2011! The important information/news arrived from Durham, NC, where Duke University research group headed by Warren S. Warren reported the new laser diagnostic method. Using two lasers the 3D imaging technique separates the harmless and the cancerous moles. With the new laser tool, pathologists can differentiate the eumelanin and the pheomelanin content of the cells. In the cancerous moles the level of eumelanin is significantly higher.
The importance of the new diagnostic method is summarized in one sentence: "The improved diagnoses could potentially save thousands of lives and millions of dollars in unnecessary healthcare costs each year." (Citation from the website of Duke University, Durham, NC, February 23, 2011.)
The research started in 2009 when Director Warren's group was granted $1 million from the National Institutes of Health. They wanted to reach new results in two fields:
(1) Working out a more accurate method than the light microscopic one. The Duke University team reached it now. The new imaging tool is an added instrumentation to already available lasers and is able to separate the positive and the harmless biopsies. As Director Warren said, from now dermatologists and pathologists can use the laser tool to study biopsies, that is moles and bumps removed from a patient.
(2) The second phase of the research is the working out of method studying the moles without removing them. These studies need yet years to implement.
Derek G. Austin is author and editor of health information products. Read more about moles removal on http://www.toprove.com/moleremoval
1 comment:
The signs and symptoms of melanoma are like these,the Edge of the lesion is irregular. Melanomas tend to have different colors. Moles of more than 6 mm are more likely to be melanomas smaller moles.
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