is there any alternative medicine for stage 4 "melanoma",type of skin cancer with liver & lung metases?

Answer 1

Hi gs a, I much recommend not to experiment, melanoma is a serious type of skin cancer and requires qualify medical processing.

Any mole that is irregular in color or shape should be examined by a doctor to determine if it is a malignant melanoma, the most serious and life-threatening form of skin cancer. Following a visual examination and a dermatoscopic exam (an instrument that illuminates a mole, revealing its underlying pigment and vascular network structure), the doctor may biopsy the suspicious mole. If it is malignant, the mole and an area around it needs excision by a surgeon or dermatologist.

The diagnosis of melanoma requires experience, as early stages may look identical to harmless moles or not have any color at all. Where any doubt exists, the patient will be referred to a specialist dermatologist. Stage 4 "melanoma" requires emphases and study.
Please look article:http://www.askedweb.com/askedweb/Melanoma_-_Saving_The_Melanin_Pigment_In_Skin/
Jason Homan

Answer 2

I assume you've already been to regular doctors since you know your diagnosis.

If you're interested in what there is out there in alternative medicine for cancer, here are some links that might help:

Annotated list of current alternative cancer treatments:
http://www.mnwelldir.org/docs/cancer1/altthrpy.htm

Ralph Moss, PhD's site for cancer treatment reports:
http://www.cancerdecisions.com/

Life Extension Foundation:
http://www.lef.org/protocols/prtcl-147.shtml
http://www.lef.org/protocols/prtcl-027.shtml
http://www.lef.org/protocols/cancer/cancer_vaccines_01.htm
http://www.lef.org/protocols/cancer/radiation_therapy_01.htm

Innovative clinics:
http://www.lef.org/research/directoryofinnovativeclinics02.html

Best of luck to you.

Answer 3

I don't believe there is. If the cancer has metastasized already you need traditional medical treatment. This is only my opinion but I would not delay in seeking treatment.

Answer 4

Good question, for external skin cancer I would use emu oil, it will shrink and dry it out and then you just wash it off. For your internal cancer you have some choices for cancer fighters, you can try, Serratia Peptidase, DHEA, and checkout graviola at www.rain-tree.com/graviola.htm

Answer 5

i would personally see a dermotologist for that

Answer 6

DAILY TAKE CINOMON POWDER WITH HONEY AND THEN SEE

Answer 7

Stages of melanoma

This page tells you about staging for melanoma. You can scroll down the page to read all the information here. Or use the following links to go straight to sections on

* What is staging?
* The different systems doctors use
* The Breslow Scale
* TNM staging of melanoma
* Number stages of melanoma

What is staging?
The stage of a cancer tells the doctor how far it has spread. It is important because treatment is often decided according to the stage of a cancer. It is important that you ask your doctor about the stage of your melanoma. Most melanomas are early stage 1 and are completely cured with surgery. Most stage 2 tumours can also be cured with surgery. There is no point in frightening yourself by worrying about advanced melanoma when you have had an early stage melanoma and are never going to get advanced stage disease.

The different systems doctors use
There are a number of different systems and scales that doctors use to stage or group melanoma. Dotors commonly use the TNM staging system and the Breslow Scale to help stage melanoma. They use this information to give the melanoma a number stage.

The Breslow Scale
Measuring the depth of the cancer is important. Doctors use a scale called the primary tumour thickness scale. This is sometimes called the Breslow Scale. It puts stage 1 melanomas into three categories depending on how deep they are

* Low risk - the melanoma is less than 0.76mm thick
* Medium risk - the melanoma is 0.76mm to 1.5mm thick
* High risk - the melanoma is more than 1.5mm thick

Remember - doctors may use different staging systems when they talk about the risk of your cancer coming back. This can be confusing as doctors might sometimes call stage 2 or 3 melanomas high risk. The risks according to the Breslow scale are for stage 1 melanoma.

Further Tests/Diagnosing Malignant Melanoma /Melanoma /Specific Cancers /Cancer Information Homepage/Welcome to CancerHelp/



Generally speaking, if your melanoma is confined to the top layer of the skin (the epidermis) there is usually a low risk of recurrence. If it has grown down into the dermis, there is a medium risk for recurrence. If it has grown beyond the dermis, into the fat layer under the skin, or even further than that, there is a high risk of recurrence. This is only a rule of thumb, though. Your specialist will take other factors into account when judging your risk, such as how the cells look under a microscope, and whether the lesion is ulcerated..

If your melanoma was low risk on the Breslow scale, it is very unlikely that it will come back. It is removed before it has a chance to grow deep enough for any cells to have broken away and spread. You are unlikely to need any more treatment. But your specialist may want you to come back for a check up at some time in the future.

If your melanoma was medium or high risk on the Breslow scale, there is a chance that it could have already spread or could come back in the future. Depending on how thick it was, and whether you have any other signs, such as enlarged lymph nodes, your doctor may want to do some more tests. You will almost certainly have to come back for check ups for the next few years anyway.

TNM staging of melanoma
This staging system is common to all cancers. It is called the TNM system. You can find out more about this system in About Cancer: How Cancers Grow: Stages.

The 'T' part of the TNM describes the primary tumour. Here are the 'T' stages of melanoma.

* T1 - the melanoma is less than 1 milllimetre thick
* T2 - the melanoma is between 1 mm and 2 mm thick
* T3 - the melanoma is between 2 mm and 4 mm thick
* T4 - the melanoma is over 4 mm thick or there are clusters of melanoma cells in the surrounding skin less than 5 cm from the primary melanoma

You may like to look again at the diagram of the skin structure in this section of CancerHelp UK to see how the thickness of the melanoma relates to the thickness of the skin. The 'T' part of the TNM system is split further into two groups, a and b, depending on whether the melanoma is ulcerated or not. Ulcerated means that the covering layer of skin over the tumour is broken. So 'a' means not ulcerated and 'b' means ulcerated. Ulcerated melanomas have a higher risk of spreading which is why ulceration is used as part of staging melanoma.

Nodules of melanoma in the skin nearby to the primary melanoma may be called 'local recurrence'. Some melanoma cells have broken away from the primary tumour and begun to grow new tumours, or nodules, in the surrounding skin. This can happen at any time after the original cancer has been removed. So it could be some years later. The more time that has gone by since your original diagnosis though, the less likely this is to happen.

The 'N' part of the TNM describes whether the lymph nodes or lymphatic ducts contain cancer cells. Here are the 'N' stages of melanoma

* N0 - there are no positive lymph nodes
* N1 - there is one positive lymph node
* N2 - there are 2-3 positive lymph nodes
* N3 - there are 4 or more positive lymph nodes

The 'N' part of the stage is further divided into groups a, b and c. If the cancer in the lymph node can only be seen with a microscope (micrometastasis) it is termed 'a'. But if there are obvious signs of cancer in the lymph node (macrometastasis) it is termed 'b'. And 'c' means that there are 'in transit metastases'. These are nodules that are further than 5cm from your primary melanoma.and are a sign that cells from the primary have travelled through the lymphatic system. The nodules are places in the lymphatic ducts where trapped melanoma cells have begun to grow into new melanoma tumours.

The 'M' part of the TNM describes whether the cancer has spread to another part of the body. Here are the 'M' stages of melanoma

* M0 - there is no sign of cancer spread anywhere else
* M1 - there is melanoma in another part of the body

Number stages of melanoma
Using the TNM classification, melanomas are grouped into four number stages.

Stage 1 Stage one means no positive lymph nodes and no sign of cancer spread. In this stage the primary melanoma is less than 2.0mm thick or less than 1.0mm thick and ulcerated. Ulcerated means that the covering layer of skin over the tumour is broken. There is information about the treatment of stage one melanomas in this section of CancerHelp UK.

Stage 2 Stage two melanomas also have no sign of spread or positive lymph nodes. This group is for melanomas that are over 2.0mm thick or over 1.0mm thick and ulcerated. There is information about treatment of stage 2 melanomas in this section of CancerHelp UK.

Stage 3 This group is for all melanomas where there are positive lymph nodes, but no sign of the cancer having spread anywhere else in the body. There is information about treatment of stage 3 melanomas in this section of CancerHelp UK.

Stage 4 This group is all melanomas that have spread elsewhere in the body, away from the primary site. So, all M1 tumours. There is information about treatment of stage 4 melanomas in this section of CancerHelp UK.

Advanced melanoma (Stage 4)

Advanced melanoma means the cancer has spread from where it started to another part of the body. This may be called stage 4 melanoma. Your melanoma may have already spread when it is diagnosed. Or it may come back in another part of the body sometime after you were first diagnosed and treated. This is called 'recurrent' cancer. Cancer that has spread to another part of the body is called secondary cancer or metastases.

Suggestion
You may want to contact a help line for more information.
Or for help with the emotional difficulties in coming to terms
with having an advanced cancer. Look in
CancerHelp UK's Help and Support section for
some ideas of who may be able to help you


Where can melanoma spread to?

Melanoma can spread just about anywhere in the body.

where melanoma can spread

There does not seem to be much of a pattern in where it goes to, unlike some other cancers. For example, secondary melanoma can occur in the

* Lungs
* Liver
* Bones
* Brain
* Abdomen
* Lymph nodes

Not all melanomas will spread. And not all will spread to the same places. It is not possible to be definite about this because the same type of cancer can behave completely differently in different people.

Remember - You are just as likely to get the same aches and pains and off days as anyone else. Just because you have cancer does not mean that everything that happens to you is caused by cancer. Do check with your doctor about any symptom that is worrying you. It is likely that it will not be caused by your cancer. And if it is, the sooner you get treatment the better.

Which treatment should I have?

Chemotherapy, radiotherapy and biological therapies can all be used to treat advanced melanoma. There is information about all these treatments in this section of CancerHelp UK. Surgery is also sometimes used to remove bulky tumours. This can be done before other treatment. Research tells us that some cancer treatments such as chemotherapy will work better if there is less cancer around to kill off.

Which treatment is right for you will depend on

* Where your cancer has spread
* The symptoms it is causing
* The treatment you have already had

Chemotherapy and radiotherapy may help to relieve symptoms. There are also some experimental techniques combining chemotherapy with biological therapy now being tried. Interferon and vaccines are types of biological therapies also known as immunotherapy treatment. Information about these and other new treatments for melanoma is included on our what's new page, further on in this section.

There are many clinical trials going on with melanoma patients to try to find out whether one treatment is more effective than the others. If you would like to be part of a clinical trial into a new treatment, talk to your specialist or GP. They may be able to find one going on in, or near, your hospital. You can also find clincial trials in melanoma by using our clinical trials database. Follow this link or click on the blue button to the left of any CancerHelp UK screen. Then pick 'melanoma' from the drop down menu of cancer types.

It can be difficult to decide which treatment to try. Or whether to have treatment at all when you have an advanced cancer. You will need to think about how the treatment will affect your day to day life. This includes side effects as well as stresses such as travelling back and forth to the hospital. Most importantly, you will need to understand what can be achieved with the treatment you are being offered.

Your doctor will discuss the options for treatment with you. There may be a counsellor or specialist nurse at the hospital you could chat to. You may also wish to talk things over with a close relative or friend.

Suggestion
It can be helpful to talk over difficult decisions with someone
who is outside your circle of family and friends.
Look in our Help and Support section for organisations that can
tell you about counsellors in your area.


"I do have a relative with stage 4 melanoma. When they found it they only gave her a few months to live. She wasnt even feeling ill yet. Well anyway her husband being a doctor at Stanford was able to get her into some trials and she is still with us, its been about 2 years now. I dont really think the long term outcome is good but there is some hope for short term. I would get ahold of the Stanford Hospital and see if they can offer some advice. "