© Penelope Gan – All Rights Reserved – My Mother

I write this not because I want to, but because I have to. It’s good to know before it is too late.

Cancer Is A Bitch!

Skin cancer – whilst is the most common form of cancer with more than one million skin cancers being diagnosed annually, it is generally one of the better cancers to get (if one actually has a choice in this matter). And I am saying this not because I am a cynic by nature, but because 3 out of 4 people will suffer from cancer. 4 out of 5 people will die of cancer.

However, only 3% of skin cancer cases are melanoma, which causes more than 75% of skin cancer deaths. This means that only 2% of people diagnosed with skin cancer dies of melanoma. Yes, melanoma kills. Basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma is rarely fatal but can be highly disfiguring.

Melanomas in Asians have a greater tendency than Caucasians to present with advanced disease at time of diagnosis. This is primarily due to the fact that they tend to occur on non-exposed skin with less pigment, with up to 60-75% of tumors arising on the palms, soles, mucous membranes and nail regions, that goes undetectable for a long time unlike other skin cancers that is visible to the naked eye – didn’t I say Cancer Is A Bitch!

Melanoma that occurs on the nail bed is called subungual melanoma. The only good thing about subungual melanoma is, it is a relatively rare cancer with reported incidence between 0.7 to 3.5% of all melanoma cases.

When mom first took serious noticed of her discoloured toe nail with a peculiar dark brown colour stripe that runs along the length of her nail plate, she had by that time lived with it for more than 3 months, dismissing it as a blood clout resulting from a knock, which she admits to not remembering.

Had it not been for her concern as a primary day care giver to my severely brain injured nephew, paranoia with increasing numbers of friends dropping like flies due to cancer, and her deep seated desire to match make (!) me to her doctor, she would not have insisted on a biopsy.

Today, we urge everyone to pay closer attention to their bodies. To exercise extreme paranoia. To be a hypochondriac.

After all, Cancer Is A Bitch! Early detection save lives.

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Happy 60th Birthday Mommy … and many more to come.

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Subungual melanoma is a specific type of melanoma that occurs under the nail bed more commonly in dark-skinned people. Subungual melanoma causes a dark colored stripe that runs along the length of the nail plate , not across the nail. Just having a dark nail stripe is not necessarily melanoma. The following Signs make it more likely that a dark stripe is a subungual melanoma and should be evaluated by a dermatologist:

• Hutchinson’s Sign – Spread of pigmentation into the nail folds
• Pigmentation in a single digit
• Occurs at age 50 or older
• Occurs in the thumb, index finger, or great toe
• Blurred borders
• History of melanoma