Just diagnosed with cutaneous melanoma stage 0 or 1? If you’ve just found out that you or a loved one have cutaneous melanoma, it can be a shock. But you are not alone — 1.4 million people in the United States are living with melanoma. 1 The good news is that most melanoma is curable if diagnosed and treated early. In fact, for melanoma stages 0–1, the survival rate of five years or more after diagnosis is more than 99%. 2
million people are living with melanoma. 1 1.4
What to do next? First, take a breath, stay calm and keep reading. Once you feel ready, it might help you to learn more about melanoma. This guide will cover melanoma stages 0 and 1 that can be removed by surgery (called resectable ).
In this guide, you will learn:
In this guide, we will use the word “melanoma” to refer to cutaneous melanoma, which means melanoma of the skin. Words in dark blue are defined in the glossary on page 18.
What is cutaneous melanoma?.............................................2 How can doctors tell if I have melanoma?........................4 What stage is my melanoma?...............................................5 Learn about stage 0 melanoma............................................7 Learn about stage 1 melanoma............................................8 Questions to ask your doctor .................................................9 Finding support ..........................................................................10 Chances of melanoma coming back (recurrence) .....12 Preventing melanoma from coming back ......................12 Resources...................................................................................... 17 Glossary.........................................................................................18
After learning all of this, you may even help prevent someone you love from getting a melanoma diagnosis!
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