You may be tempted to ignore an odd mole or lesion on your skin during pregnancy because of all the changes that take place in your body. Don’t dismiss anything if you observe it. Skin cancer may occur when you’re pregnant. Among fact, melanoma, the most dangerous type of skin cancer, is more frequent in women who are expected to get pregnant at this point in their lives. You may improve your prognosis if you catch the cancer early and have it treated quickly.
During pregnancy, cancer of any kind is very uncommon. Cancer affects just one in 1,000 births, and skin cancer affects even fewer, according to the National Cancer Research Institute. Despite the lack of scientific evidence, the risk of skin cancer during pregnancy exists. Melanoma was the most prevalent malignancy reported during pregnancy, accounting for 31% of all cases, according to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Age may be a contributing factor. For pregnant women, the Skin Cancer Foundation estimates that around one-third of all melanomas are detected during childbearing years.
Many skin malignancies, including basal cell carcinoma and melanoma, may be successfully treated. It’s the same with early-stage melanomas, which have a better prognosis. However, some studies have found that pregnant women with melanoma have a worse prognosis than those who are not. When it comes to melanoma, pregnant women are up to five times more likely to die than those who are not, 6.9 times more likely to experience metastasis, and 9.2 times more likely to have a recurrence, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology in October 2016. In the study, researchers believed that pregnancy hormones may be a factor in the development of cancer. The relationships are being studied by scientists.
Pregnant women should continue to visit their dermatologist for skin checks. You may get a simple biopsy to extract tissue and do a cancer screening if you have a worrisome mole or lesion. Doctors provide a local anesthetic to the region during a biopsy. Afterwards, the dermatologist will either remove a portion of or the whole worrisome lesion. A pathologist examines the tissue under a microscope in a lab. The cancer may have spread if your melanoma test results are positive, therefore you may require more testing. To establish whether or not the cancer has spread, a sentinel lymph node biopsy may be necessary. A general anesthetic is normally required for this test, which isn’t suggested during the first trimester of pregnancy. Your doctor may alter or postpone this test. You should inform your dermatologist that you’re pregnant if you’re undergoing a skin cancer screening, even if the procedure itself is safe. If you’re pregnant, you’ll have a wide range of testing and diagnostic choices to choose from, depending on how far along you are. Testing during pregnancy might have both positive and negative consequences.
