The word cancer is enough to send many people into a spin. However, most types of skin cancer have a very favorable prognosis. They are common and very treatable. Melanoma is the skin cancer of most concern. Minor skin cancers often appear as a spot or sore that will not heal. Melanomas may arise in a preexisting skin mole that has become darker or changed in appearance. More often they will appear as a new mole or an unusual freckle. Nearly all skin cancers are related to excessive UV radiation. The depletion of the earth's ozone layer also appears to be increasing the risk of developing skin cancer. With melanoma, family history also seems to be a factor. Detection at the melanoma in situ stage provides the highest curable rate for melanoma. The aim of this paper is to provide the summary of all the available methods and stages of melanoma identification.
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