Routine foot exams to help detect melanoma

by Patricia Mayville-Cox, The Cancer Blog on Aug 14, 2007

Filed under: Melanoma

According to the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons, routine self-exams of your feet are very important to find skin cancer early, including melanoma. If melanoma is detected in the early stages, 92 percent of patients survive five years. Melanoma can develop anywhere on the body, including areas that receive little sun exposure, such as the feet and ankles.

However, half of the people who learn they have melanoma of the foot die within five years, because of the cancer's spread by the time of diagnosis.

Foot and ankle surgeons recommend focusing on the most common places for foot melanoma: the soles, between the toes and around or under the toenails.

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 (known as the ABCDEs of melanoma), see a doctor immediately.

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