Melanoma

[Julian]

disease you can contract from using a tanning booth

fancy talk for sexified

[Greta]

fancy talk for [sexified].

[Oralee]

what [snooki] will get soon cuz she spends all day in a [tanning] [booth] to look like an [oompa] [loompa].

[Renato]

A tumour of melanin-forming cells, especially a malignant tumour associated with skin cancer.

[Merna]

Melanoma is a skin cancer that begins in the pigment-producing cells of the skin (melanocytes).

Melanomas can begin on normal skin or in existing moles.
They may be irregular, flat or raised brown patches of skin with spots of different colors or firm black or gray lumps.
To diagnose melanoma, doctors do a biopsy.
Melanomas are removed.
If they have spread, chemotherapy drugs and radiation therapy are used, but cure is difficult.

(See also Overview of Skin Cancer.)
Melanocytes are the pigment-producing cells in the skin that give skin its distinctive color. Sunlight stimulates melanocytes to produce more melanin (the pigment that darkens the skin) and increases the risk of melanoma.
In the United States in 2016, more than 76,000 people were diagnosed with melanoma and about 10,000 people died from it. Although melanoma accounts for less than 5% of all skin cancers diagnosed in the United States, it causes the most skin cancer deaths. Every hour, one person in the United States dies of melanoma.
Melanoma usually begins on normal skin as a new, small, pigmented growth, most often on sun-exposed areas. About one in three melanomas develops in a preexisting mole. Melanoma may also occur around and inside the eyes, in the mouth, on the genitals and rectal areas, in the brain, and in the nail beds.
Melanoma readily spreads (metastasizes) to distant parts of the body, where it continues to grow and destroy tissue.
The two most common types of melanoma are

Superficial spreading melanoma: This type accounts for 70% of melanomas and occurs most commonly on women’s legs and men’s torsos. The tumor cells commonly have mutations in the BRAF gene.
Nodular melanoma: This type accounts for 15 to 30% of melanomas, occurs anywhere on the body, and grows rapidly.