Prevention of Melanoma by Recognition of Its Precursors

"Fear has big eyes." This proverb describes our feelings about cancer: we are all afraid of cancer and we are continually seeking clues to detect it as early as possible. Unfortunately, there are few early warnings. Although self-examination of the breasts and testicles for nodules has been widely publicized, self-examination of the skin to detect melanoma has not been adequately emphasized. Early melanoma is usually easy to recognize. Moreover, the prognosis is negatively correlated with tumor thickness: patients with early "thin" primary melanoma have a 95 to 100 per cent survival rate, whereas those with thick lesions have a dismal . . .