At first, doctors found nothing to worry about. According to her, the mole did not present any distinctive signs.
This text is a translation of an article from CTV News.
Initially the size of a dime, she noticed around 2019 that it looked different and had grown. It was round with bumpy edges. The upper part was red-brown.
“It’s what I call crazy,” the 70-year-old retired teacher from London, Ont., said in a video interview with CTVNews.ca. “It didn’t hurt, but it was irritating because there was a little piece, like a skin tag, that was there. She had changed a little and I needed to have her examined.”
As she had just arrived in town and did not have a family doctor, she went to a nearby walk-in clinic.
The dermatologist performed a biopsy and diagnosed nodular melanoma, a less common but one of the most dangerous types of skin cancer, in January 2020.
She had surgery to remove the tumor because the melanoma had spread to her back, but the tumor returned, although smaller.
After having it removed, the cancer spread to her left lung and she had to have another operation. “Melanoma hides and is said to be very sneaky, so it can come back and metastasize,” she said. “It’s a disease that is difficult to identify at first and that’s why you have to be very careful.”
Ms. LeBlanc experienced no pain or other side effects, which makes melanoma difficult to detect if people don’t get tested. Melanoma can even become fatal if it spreads too much in the body.
For a year, she received monthly immunotherapy treatments, different from chemotherapy and radiotherapy. However, she discovered she was allergic to the drug used for immunotherapy and experienced side effects, but taking other medications allowed her to receive the infusions.
During her last scan, surgeons were concerned about a lymph node, meaning she will be examined again for possible skin cancer. A needle biopsy is planned for July.
Dangers of sun exposure
LeBlanc told CTVNews.ca how she survived skin cancer as the number of melanoma cases increases in Canada.
Although doctors have not been able to pinpoint the exact cause of her skin cancer, LeBlanc believes it is attributable to years of exposure to the sun.
As a child, she did not know the dangers of exposure to the sun. It wasn’t until her early 20s that she started wearing sunscreen regularly. It was around this time that Ms. LeBlanc developed a sun allergy, which resulted in a rash on her neck. She wore a swimsuit when swimming outdoors and used sunscreen, but not on all parts of her body.
As a pet owner, she was regularly exposed to direct sunlight. She remembers taking her Bernese Mountain Dogs for daily walks for at least half an hour, twice a day.
During treatment, she says she didn’t go out as much. During her convalescence, Ms. LeBlanc avoids going out between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., when the sun’s rays are strongest. “I definitely wear more sunscreen, but I mostly cover up,” said Ms. LeBlanc, adding that she wears a light, long-sleeved shirt and long pants. She also wears wide-brimmed hats. “I’m very, very careful when I’m out in the sun.”
Patient advice
People diagnosed with melanoma or other types of cancer can find support groups and resources like Melanoma Canada and Wellspring, LeBlanc said.
Although melanoma is one of the rarest skin cancers, it is one of the most serious. It can be caused not only by sun exposure, but also by genetics, reported Dr. Maxwell Sauder, an onco-dermatologist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Center in Toronto and an assistant professor at the University of Toronto. “This is a bigger cancer because it can spread to other parts of the body and ultimately kill someone,” Dr. Sauder argued in a video interview with CTVNews.ca.
“Over the past 30 years, the number of new cases of melanoma has tripled. In 2023, approximately 9,700 cases of melanoma will be diagnosed in Canada,” according to Dr. Sauder.
Basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma are more common types of skin cancer that generally do not require advanced treatment and can be treated in a regular doctor’s office, Dr. Sauder said. There is good news if melanoma is detected early, he added.
“Melanoma detected at an early stage is very easy to treat,” he explained. “Just cut it out, leaving normal skin around it, and that’s it. And generally, if detected early, the risk of spread is very low. The risk is greatest when we leave it in place and continue to grow. This is when the risk of melanoma spreading increases.
People diagnosed with melanoma may benefit from targeted therapies or immunotherapies, Sauder said. Targeted therapies, usually pills, target the genetic mutation, while immunotherapy activates the body’s immune system to find, detect and destroy melanoma.
Prevention
There’s not much that can be done to prevent genetically caused melanomas, but sun protection can help protect people since two-thirds of melanomas are caused by UV rays, Dr. Sauder said.
Dr. Sauder recommends that people self-exam monthly and see a doctor once a year to check for possible skin cancer, especially for people at high risk of developing skin cancer. People at high risk include those with a family history of melanoma and those who sunburn easily, according to the Mayo Clinic.
“I generally recommend that people check themselves on their birthday so that they don’t forget to do it,” he said. According to Dr. Sauder and other experts, sun safety practices include wearing a hat, UV protective clothing, applying sunscreen generously and frequently, avoiding direct sunlight maximum and maintenance in the shade.
“Artificial tanning should definitely be avoided,” added Dr. Sauder. “UV tanning booths emit high-intensity UV rays that are significantly associated with melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer.”
Check for abnormal changes
Check for moles or changes in the skin, including asymmetry, jagged edges, different colors, or anything larger than a pencil eraser. Lesions that change dramatically in size or shape, itching, burning or bleeding can be bad signs and people should have their moles checked, Dr. Sauder said.
“Normal moles have nice, smooth edges, while those that need to be examined have jagged edges or finger-like protrusions coming out of them,” he explained. “A melanoma is essentially a mole gone wild.”
