May is Melanoma Awareness Month. So, we thought it was a good time to offer the following reminders about this disease that kills one American every hour.  The first is to remember that if detected early, melanoma can often be successfully treated.

What are the best ways to stay on top of it? Well, of course awareness is the first step. Understanding the serious nature of this form of skin cancer will drive more people to practice better sun safety, and get regular skin exams. 2010 is also the 25th-year anniversary of the development of the "ABCDEs” – the acronym for the quick and simple criteria to use for skin self-exams to help detect skin cancers, including melanoma. Please share these easy reminders with your friends and loved ones:

A is for Asymmetry where one-half of the mole is unlike the other.

B is for Border where the mole is irregular, scalloped or poorly defined.

C is for Color that varies from one area to another or has different shades of tan, brown, black and sometimes white, red or blue.
D is for Diameter of a mole when it is bigger than the size of a pencil eraser.
E is for Evolving or changing in size, shape or color.

The ABDCEs were created by dermatologists at NYU Langone Medical Center, which is home to the most recent addition of the MoleSafe clinic locations. This exemplary institution is also conducting its annual free skin cancer screening on Thursday, May 6, 2010 from 1:30 PM to 5:00 PM at 550 First Avenue in the Charles C. Harris Skin and Cancer Pavilion on the first floor of the Medical Center. No appointment is necessary for the free screening and everyone is encouraged to take advantage of this annual opportunity – especially those who have a changing mole, a history of melanoma, or who are over the age of 50 and do not have a regular dermatologist.

Also, the Skin Cancer Foundation is back on the road, conducting free screenings around the country. For a list of a locations please visit their web site.

As always, we encourage you to invest in your healthy future with the "gold standard” of skin cancer screenings at any of our four (soon to be SIX!) MoleSafe locations in the country. Our final reminder? Melanoma Awareness shouldn’t be limited to the month of May. Stay vigilant. Stay aware.

Tags: AAD, awareness, How-To, MoleSafe, NYU, screenings, Skin Cancer Foundation

This entry was posted on Monday, May 3rd, 2010 at 9:38 am and is filed under News/Events, Self Exam. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.