On July 13, our speaker was Steve Fine from the Melanoma Education Foundation, who talked about the importance of early detection of Melanoma through self-examination.
Link to video about melanoma self-detection covering the presentation.
Our speaker, Steve Fine, talked to us about early self-detection of Melanoma. It was a sobering topic but one that was important to hear. We learned that the most vulnerable population is young people, ages 25-29. The risk of developing skin cancer is nearly 5 times greater than that of HIV, yet kids are more educated on the dangers of HIV than they are about protecting themselves from getting skin cancer. Steve showed us pictures of various moles, skin lesions and raised surfaces so we could learn to identify a potential cancer. He encouraged us to keep an eye on our skin, to watch for any changes in appearance to any skin tags, moles, lesions, for growth, change in color, etc. If it continues to grow/change, one should get a referral from your Doctor to see a Dermatologist immediately. Since Dermatologists quite frequently are booking out months away, be sure to tell them you have an abnormal growth and that if there is a cancellation, you'd like to get in ASAP. Time is of the essence, as these cancers can quickly penetrate the lower layers of the skin, making it harder to treat.