I guess what I am trying to ask is If someone has melanoma, does that mean it may not be cancerous???? or does it have to be malignant in order for the melanoma to be cancerous?
2006-10-10 09:31:38 · 9 answers · asked by Mr MOJO123 2 in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Skin Conditions
melanoma by definition is malignant. yes it is cancer
2006-10-10 09:34:11 · answer #1 · answered by toietmoi 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A melanoma is a malignant tumor, and we (doctors) often use melanoma and malignant melanoma interchangably, I do not know of any benign melanomas (though that doesn't mean there aren't any, it's not my field).
Melenoma is pretty bad news, but they're not all the same. Important things are the depth in the skin of the tumor (which can be found out when the tumor is removed) and whether or not it has spread to the lymph nodes nearby or further tissues. Many people who have shallow melenomas with no metastasis (spread to other parts of the body) that are removed do well over many years.
If this is a question that relates to you or somebody you know, you should ask your dermatologist and whatever oncologist he refers you to (some dermatologists manage this condition themselves, some refer to cancer specialists, it's one of those diseases that falls into two specialities) because all that I can give here is a general answer, and it may not apply to a specific case.
2006-10-10 09:43:12 · answer #2 · answered by The Doc 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A malignant melanoma is the cancerous type, benign is non-cancerous.
2006-10-10 09:34:07 · answer #3 · answered by GoodJob 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm not 100% sure about this but I think that the melignant melanoma is cancerous and the melanoma is a non-cancerous tumor. Hope that helps.
2006-10-11 09:14:36 · answer #4 · answered by wilsonhutchison04 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
All melanoma is malignant... you could have a benign growth or tumor on your skin, but it would not be melanoma.
2006-10-10 09:41:25 · answer #5 · answered by simplyrelaxinginblvl 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Melanoma IS skin cancer.
http://www.skincancer.org/melanoma/index.php
2006-10-10 09:34:16 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
you can have melanoma that is not cancerous. This type is called benign. malignant means that whatever type of cancer it is is cancerous
2006-10-10 09:42:50 · answer #7 · answered by eraida24 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Malignant is cancerous. Benign is worry free.
2006-10-10 09:33:41 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Malignant means that it could cause death.
2006-10-10 09:39:41 · answer #9 · answered by alwaysbombed 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋