title: All melanomas start sometime. What to do before and after.
abstract: Interest in the prevention and early recognition and treatment of malignant melanoma is increasing because of ongoing education of health care professionals and of the public. The role of primary care physicians in the educational process is essential, for it is they who can shorten the interval between discovery of melanoma and its surgical removal. All melanomas start sometime. The key to cure is early recognition, which requires the physician to always think "melanoma" when examining or excising a pigmented lesion.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011379:Prognosis; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy