Half of all people who learn they have melanoma of the foot die within five years because the cancer had already spread throughout their body by the time it was diagnosed.
Nearly 60,000 people will learn they have melanoma this year. It’s not known how many of those cases will involve the foot, but more than 8,100 melanoma patients will die- nearly one death every hour. If melanoma is detected in its earliest stages, 92% of patients are alive after five years.
Routine self examination of the feet is an important way to detect skin cancer early, when it’s easiest to cure. Focusing on the three most common areas for foot melanoma: the soles, between the toes, and around or under the toenails, is recommended.
What does it look like
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This picture an Acral Lentiginous Melanoma. Note the surround of macular brown pigmentation expanding beyond the densely pigmented area. |
Signs to look for are such as above, equally if a growth appears on any part of your body like above it usually starts off being very small and can stay that way for months or even years, but if it starts to expand rapidly within a few weeks, looks crusty, or bleeds or uneven, looks an angry red colour or changes colour like above, then seek help immediately.
Usually these lesions are measured by dermatologists according to a scale such as the Breslow thickness in millimetres and is inversely proportionate to the 5 year survival rate. The Breslow states that at 1mm or less survival for 5 years is 90%, 1-3mm is 70% or greater, and 3-3.5mm is poor at 40%.