HHS HealthBeat (July 20, 2006)

More melanoma

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Want a good-looking tan? The price may be potentially fatal skin cancer – melanoma.

Doctors want to get those cancerous patches removed as soon as they show up. But sometimes, even when the cancer is gone, a new one comes.

Dartmouth Medical School researcher Linda Titus-Ernstoff looked at those new cases. Her study in Archives of Dermatology was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Titus-Ernstoff found a higher risk of a second melanoma in patients with more unusual moles – called atypical moles. Here's something to look for:

"Those most obvious or easiest criterion is that it's as large as the top of a pencil eraser or larger, most of the time." (seven seconds)

She advises everyone to examine their skin, see a skin doctor about suspicious moles, and be covered up when in the sun.

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: August, 15 2006