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Does Skin Cancer Always Mean Having Melanoma?

So, you’ve been diagnosed with melanoma. It is the deadliest kind of skin cancer. Read more here
Rayomand S. Engineer
By
Rayomand S. Engineer
Does Skin Cancer Always Mean Having Melanoma?

Introduction

Skin cancer - one of the most debilitating cancers that there is. One of the more common myths about skin cancer that goes unnoticed is that skin cancer is synonymous with melanoma. But does skin cancer always mean melanoma? No. Skin cancer does not necessarily mean melanoma. Melanoma refers to one type of skin cancer, and several other types of cancer are not melanoma.

Our country has more than a million cases of skin cancer per year. The Northeast remains the hot pocket of skin cancer in India, with around 5.14 cases per 100,000 males and around 3.98 cases per 100,000 females, according to JCRT. Melanoma is quite prevalent in the North, registering 1.62 cases per 100,000 males and 1.21 cases per 100,000 females. So you can see that skin cancer and Melanoma are quite different regarding demographics. Having established the difference, let’s dive deeper into the question to understand what they are.

Melanoma vs Non-melanoma skin cancer?

Melanoma refers to a kind of skin cancer that begins in melanocytes, which are the cells that produce melanin. Melanoma is more likely to spread to other body parts than other varieties of skin cancer. If treatment isn’t done, it can spread rapidly to other body parts. Melanoma develops from existing moles or skin changes and needs prompt diagnosis and treatment.

The latter refers to a group of skin cancers that develop in skin cells other than the melanocytes. Non-melanoma skin cancer is more prevalent than melanoma and includes Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC) and Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC). These are slow-growing cancers with a high cure rate, especially when detected early.