In the spirit of Halloween, we encourage you to take off your costume. And all your clothes, for that matter!
Checking yourself or partner for skin cancer means taking regular reviews of all the spots and dots on your body.
Here’s an oldie but goodie post about early skin cancer detection and a how-to reminder on skin cancer self-exams.
Stay safe and have fun out there!
Stephen J Cannell passed away in early October at the age of 69, due to complications from Melanoma. The creator of “The Rockford Files” and “The A Team,” Cannell produced more than 40 TV series including “Baretta,” “21 Jump Street,” and “Wiseguy.” Certainly his loved ones will suffer the loss as much as any who lose a family member or friend. But when a high-profile personality falls victim to Melanoma it does help raise awareness and the point that this is not a disease that can easily be won even with access to the most expensive of doctors and treatments.
It is an equal opportunity assailant.
The good news is the money IS being well spent in research and seems to be starting to pay off. As I wrote about Bob Marley and other celebrities who have suffered and lost to Melanoma, vigilance is key, no matter your walk of life. Regular screenings at MoleSafe can SAVE LIVES via earlier diagnoses. In addition, as requested by the producer’s family, you may choose to honor someone with a donation to the American Cancer Society …or the Melanoma Research Foundation or the other organizations they list who are also doing excellent research towards finding better treatments and hopefully a cure:
If you know others doing great work, please share!
It’s interesting to see how intuitive search engines can be in today’s high-tech digital society. While MoleSafe tries to take the “be proactive, smart and aware” but optimistic stance about the real issues of skin cancer and melanoma, one ad served up recently on a skin cancer blog created a decidedly more dire tone. Coincidentally, an ad for Life Insurance policies appeared adjacent to a post about sun exposure and protection.
Optimizing Preparedness?
Truth be told, the blog, written by Jennifer Amundsen, is well-written and informative, and the other ads that rotate in do reflect other issues. I just happened to catch it with a somber underscore. So, yes, be sure your life insurance policy is up to date, but if you practice sun safety and regular screenings and mole-mapping we hope you won’t need it for a long, long time.
We’re always appreciative of news stories on MoleSafe — such as this one in today’s Asbury Park Press which mentions the use of our system now at CentraState Healthcare in Freehold, NJ. What’s terrific is the inclusion of informative facts about skin cancer and reminders about the need for better screenings. Press like this raises everyone’s awareness about early diagnosis and includes a good overview of our process:
For sun worshipers worried about the damage they may have wreaked on their skin, the CentraState Healthcare System has introduced a new screening and surveillance system aimed at improving early detection of melanoma.
The system, known as MoleSafe, combines physical skin examinations with full-body photography and dermoscopy, which allows physicians to take a microscopic look at skin lesions.
CentraState in Freehold Township is the first hospital in the state to offer the program. There are five additional MoleSafe clinics around the country, including one in Millburn.
So please forward to your friends and loved ones, tweet, post and email away!
Thank you.
We are very excited by the excellent overview Dr. Max Gomez and WCBS-TV in New York provided on the latest in skin cancer screenings, and in particular the MoleSafe method. If you’re not an early bird or not in the metro area and missed the segment on the morning news this week, here’s a link so you can view it again. You can also read a transcript of the news story for more details.
While getting your picture taken in a hospital gown is not most people's idea of a flattering photo shoot, especially when it includes unusual poses, but it could be a life saver.
If you’ve been reading this blog, you may also have recognized our own Maddie Pallamary, RN, from the MoleSafe Millburn location, who conducted the patient examination. I’m very proud of the calming, professional and informative style that Maddie clearly exhibits, as do all of our staff clinicians and physicians around the country, and which is so reassuring to new patients.
It is truly exciting to have such an esteemed institution as NYU Langone Medical Center as MoleSafe’s first U.S. hospital partner. But whether it is there in New York City, or Albuquerque, Savannah…or any of our now 6 locations, please consider getting this potentially lifesaving screening for you and your loved ones.
We truly hope future news coverage about Melanoma will be about its decline vs our ongoing battle to raise awareness and skin cancer prevention.
We are very excited by the excellent overview Dr. Max Gomez and WCBS-TV in New York provided on the latest in skin cancer screenings, and in particular the MoleSafe method. If you’re not an early bird or not in the metro area and missed the segment on the morning news this week, here’s a link so you can view it again. You can also read a transcript of the news story for more details.
While getting your picture taken in a hospital gown is not most people's idea of a flattering photo shoot, especially when it includes unusual poses, but it could be a life saver.
If you’ve been reading this blog, you may also have recognized our own Maddie Pallamary, RN, from the MoleSafe Millburn location, who conducted the patient examination. I’m very proud of the calming, professional and informative style that Maddie clearly exhibits, as do all of our staff clinicians and physicians around the country, and which is so reassuring to new patients.
It is truly exciting to have such an esteemed institution as NYU Langone Medical Center as MoleSafe’s first U.S. hospital partner. But whether it is there in New York City, or Albuquerque, Savannah…or any of our now 6 locations, please consider getting this potentially lifesaving screening for you and your loved ones.
We truly hope future news coverage about Melanoma will be about its decline vs our ongoing battle to raise awareness and skin cancer prevention.
The NYU Post-Graduate Medical School and the highly esteemed Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology, which is the first U.S. hospital to have embraced the MoleSafe method, hosted Advances in Dermatology last month for dermatologists and dermatologic surgeons and residents. The goal of the 2-day symposium was to feature findings and lectures with an “unbiased and provocative perspective.” For that reason, I’m particularly proud that the MoleSafe protocol and our revolutionary “View Software” was included in a morning dedicated to information on melanoma and advances in early detection.
The Right View
“View” lets physicians examine images WHILE the patient is in the office for an exam, which enables not only a more thorough exam by the doctor, but more information back to patients in real-time. [Read more in my post from November, when View was unveiled at the International Dermoscopy Society Conference.]
Previously, even with a dermatoscope, doctors reviewed only a few moles and could never be fully confident that their naked eye scrutiny discerned some of the finer, or questionable moles. For dermatologists who refer patients to MoleSafe for a comprehensive and state-of-the-art screening, this software is available for use in their offices at no charge. We just feel it is imperative to bring the opportunity for the best options for melanoma detection to as many patients as possible…and View enables a more clear, super enlarged view of all moles for doctor review, with the ability to pause on any questionable areas and compare the patient’s actual skin along side the macro images that have been delivered to the screen.
Based on the feedback we’ve gotten, this looks to be revolutionizing doctor/patient relationships and the very process of screening for earlier detection of melanomas, especially among high risk patients.
We encourage all of our readers to review the MoleSafe web site FAQs, and to take advantage of the increasing ways and places to get the most efficacious skin cancer examination… and help us make early, accurate detection a team effort among patients, their doctors, and technology.
This Thursday (new date), 7/8, at 5:45A and 6:45A hours, please look for my interview with Dr. Max Gomez on WCBS-TV (channel 2), when we’ll discuss advances in melanoma detection and our new clinic at NYU LANGONE MEDICAL CENTER, the first Hospital in the United States to offer MoleSafe’s cutting-edge Melanoma detection service.
As noted in the Asbury Park Press, our own Dr. Jarrod Kaufman, a surgeon on staff at CentraState Medical Center in Freehold Township which recently added the MoleSafe program to their screening services, has been appointed New Jersey chairman of the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer (CoC) Cancer Liaison Program. He is also the chairman of the melanoma work group of the New Jersey Governor’s Task Force on Cancer Prevention, Early Detection and Treatment. We are proud such an esteemed physician is a proponent of our screening services.
Oh – and one more note: MoleSafe is proud to welcome not only CentraState Medical Center to our family of MoleSafe screening locations, but now Nancy N. and J. C. Lewis Cancer & Research Pavilion at St. Joseph’s/Candler in Savannah, GA as well. Check out all of our locations and get an appointment to get checked out today.
Tanning and Taxes
Cancer prevention is a timely topic with the big summer holiday upon us. But it’s not just sun-protection while having outdoor fun that is getting press. CBS Evening News was one of many covering the new 10% sales tax that kicked in today on tanning salons. See the full story here at the 13:35 mark.
Have a fun and sun-smart holiday weekend!
I was recently invited to discuss advances in Melanoma detection on the Fox Strategy Room. I hope you’ll take a look at this video and learn about the strides we’re making at MoleSafe.
Dr. Richard Bezozo on Fox Strategy Room 5/28/10
Some might say that celebrities are over-exposed to the spotlight. And per our recent post on tanning, we’re seeing some celebs at least starting to minimize their over-exposure to sunlight (though sunless tans still abound), which helps raise awareness for skin cancer. Even the the legendary Bob Marley died from a cancer whose primary source was an acral melanoma under one of his toe nails. 
Rare but tricky to spot sometimes, Acral melanoma accounts for about 5% of all diagnosed melanomas. It is, however, one of the most common forms of melanoma in Asians and people with dark skin, accounting for up to 50% of melanomas that occur in people with these skin types. (And this is very important since recent studies have shown that Hispanics and African Americans tend to delay seeking diagnosis or treatment.)
Acral melanoma is often referred to as a “hidden melanoma” because these lesions occur on parts of the body not easily examined or not thought necessary to examine. It develops on the palms, soles, mucous membranes (such as the lining of the mouth, nose and female genitals) and underneath or near fingernails and toenails.
Here is what it usually looks like on each area of the body:
Palms of hand or soles of feet: Melanoma usually begins as an irregularly shaped tan, brown or black spot. It can be mistakenly attributed to a recent injury.
Under a nail: The first sign may be a “nail streak” – a narrow dark stripe under the nail. A new nail streak not associated with recent trauma, an enlarging nail streak, a wide or very darkly pigmented streak, or a nail that is separating or lifting up from the nail bed should be examined by a doctor.
NB: Acral melanoma can also develop without any obvious nail streak – particularly the non-pigmented variety.
Include these areas in your skin self-exams especially during a celebrity-style manicure or pedicure!
