Beating Melanoma: A Five-Step Survival Guide

by Steven Q. Wang MD

Overview

Dr. Steven Q. Wang, a world-renowned skin cancer expert, provides an essential guide for people with melanoma and their families.

The book’s unique, practical format approaches the disease in two phases, just as people with melanoma need to do. First comes a step-by-step guide for what Dr. Wang calls the "mad rush" phase—an intense and stressful period from diagnosis to completing initial treatment. Dr. Wang's calm guidance helps readers through this critical time, using an easy to understand plan for ensuring optimal treatment and survival outcomes. Once the mad rush phase is over, the "marathon phase" begins—life resumes its normal shape but with lingering concerns about new melanoma and metastases. Here Dr. Wang addresses common questions about prevention and prognosis.

Beating Melanoma offers current research in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of melanoma; photographs of different kinds of skin cancers; and a readable narrative that demystifies everything from the pathology report to the stages of cancer. The only book to outline detailed instructions for melanoma patients at all stages of their disease, it is a guide that people with melanoma will turn to with confidence.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801898891
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	05/01/2011
Series:	A Johns Hopkins Press Health Book
Pages:	124
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.60(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Steven Q. Wang, M.D., is director of dermatologic surgery and dermatology at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Basking Ridge, New Jersey. He has published widely in medical journals and academic textbooks; has lectured extensively in the United States, Britain, Italy, Israel, Spain, Canada, China, Hong Kong, and Mexico; and has been featured as a skin cancer expert in the New York Times.

Table of Contents

Preface
1. Introduction: You Have Melanoma. Now What?
2. The Five-Step Plan: Navigating the "Mad Rush" Phase
Step 1. Get the Information: The Pathology Report
Why You Need a Copy of the Pathology Report
Understanding the Report
Step 2. Assess the Reliability of the Information
Which Specialist Makes the Diagnosis?
Why Does It Matter Which Pathologist?
How to Verify the Accuracy of the Diagnosis
What to Do if You Are Not Satisfied with the Diagnosis
What to Do if the Reports Conflict
Step 3. Find the Clinical Experts in Your Area
Stacy's and Helen's Stories
How to Find Experts Near Your Home
What to Do if You Cannot Find Experts Near Your Home
Step 4. Understand Your Treatment Options and the AJCC Staging System
What Is the AJCC Staging System?
Interpreting the AJCC Staging System
How Does Your Doctor Identify the Stage of Your Disease?
Understand Your Treatment Options
Step 5. Understand Survival Rate and Prognosis
3. The "Marathon" Phase: Surviving Melanoma
Medical Follow-Up
Why Do You Need Continual Follow-Up Examinations?
Which Specialist or Specialists Should You See forFollow-Ups?
How Frequently Should You Have Follow-Up Exams?
What Should You Expect during Follow-Up Visits?
Who Is at Risk for Developing Melanoma?
What Is Your Skin Color?
How Much Sun Exposure Have You Had?
What Is Your Personal and Family History?
Do You Have Large Moles that Were Present at Birth?
Preventing Melanoma
Primary Prevention: Avoid Excessive UV Exposure
Secondary Primary: Detecting Melanoma at an Early Stage
Why You Should Not Use Tanning Booths
Medical Developments
Computer-Assisted Diagnostic Devices
MoleSafe
Confocal Laser Microscopy
Genetic Analysis
4. Networking: Finding and Sharing Information
How Can I Get Involved?
Recommended Web Sites
5. Beating Melanoma: The Checklist
Appendixes
A. Basal Cell Cancer
B. Squamous Cell Cancer
C. Melanoma Image Library
Glossary
Index

What People are Saying About This

Harold S. Rabinovitz

Well written, informative, and easy to read. Dr. Wang delivers the information with a fresh perspective that will certainly empower patients as they deal with this dangerous skin cancer. Every melanoma patient needs to read this book!

— Harold S. Rabinovitz, M.D., University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

From the Publisher

Well written, informative, and easy to read. Dr. Wang delivers the information with a fresh perspective that will certainly empower patients as they deal with this dangerous skin cancer. Every melanoma patient needs to read this book!
—Harold S. Rabinovitz, M.D., University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

Dr. Wang provides all the information necessary to intelligently and effectively confront a melanoma diagnosis. An essential resource for those individuals recently diagnosed with melanoma.
—Tara G., melanoma survivor

Tara G.

Dr. Wang provides all the information necessary to intelligently and effectively confront a melanoma diagnosis. An essential resource for those individuals recently diagnosed with melanoma.

Editorial Reviews

Any general lending library and many a health collection needs this!

Midwest Book Review

Any general lending library and many a health collection needs this!
—Midwest Book Review

This book is suitable for a wide audience, from patients to health care professionals . . . It gathers together all the important information you need to get on and make decisions . . . This book will empower you—read it!
—Macmillan Cancer Support

From the Publisher

This book is suitable for a wide audience, from patients to health care professionals . . . It gathers together all the important information you need to get on and make decisions . . . This book will empower you—read it!

Macmillan Cancer Support