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Skin Cancer and Your Feet
The next time you clip your toenails, take a closer look at the rest of your feet. It could save your life according to Dr. Nathan Lucas, a board certified foot surgeon in Memphis, TN.
Routine self-examinations of the feet are an important way to find skin cancer early. The earlier it is discovered, the easier it is to cure. Fifty percent of the people who learn they have melanoma of the foot die within five years because the cancer had already spread throughout their body by the time it was diagnosed.
Nearly 60,000 people will learn they have melanoma this year. It's not known how many of those cases will involve the foot, but more than 8,100 melanoma patients will die... nearly one death every hour. If melanoma is detected in its earliest stages, 92 percent of patients surpass the five-year milestone.
Unlike many other types of cancer, melanoma strikes people of all age groups. Caucasians are 10 times more likely to develop melanoma than other races. But studies suggest more than half of melanoma cases in African Americans involve the foot, where late diagnosis leads to a higher death rate. Routine self-exams of the foot increase the likelihood of noticing suspicious moles, freckles or other spots.
Foot and ankle surgeons recommend focusing on the three most common areas for foot melanoma: the soles, between the toes, and around or under the toenails. Melanoma can develop anywhere on the body including areas that receive little sun exposure, such as the feet and ankles. If a mole, freckle or spot starts to change over the course of a month and becomes asymmetrical or changes its border, color, diameter or elevation, see a doctor immediately. Those are the most common signs of melanoma.
Visit us at www.drnathanlucas.com for more foot and ankle health information or email nlucas@drnathanlucas.com with any foot and ankle health related question. You can also find us on twitter at www.twitter.com/dranthanlucas or myspace at www.myspace.com/drnathanlucas