WEDNESDAY, Sept. 17, 2003 (HealthDayNews) -- The five-year survival rate for foot and ankle melanoma is much lower than survival rates for melanomas on other areas of the body.
So says a study in the current issue of the Journal of Foot and Ankle Surgery.
The study by Rhode Island podiatric foot and ankle surgeon Susan M. Walsh found the overall five-year survival rate for people with primary melanoma of the foot or ankle was 52 percent, compared to 84 percent for people with melanoma on the thigh or calf.
"The results of this study should be a strong reminder for physicians and patients to be vigilant in checking the feet carefully for evidence of skin cancer," Walsh says in a news release.
"A malignant melanoma on the foot, especially if it isn't painful and on the bottom of the foot, won't be as readily noticed as a lesion on the face or arm. Foot melanomas, therefore, are more advanced and more dangerous when they are diagnosed and treated," Walsh says.
Melanomas can occur anywhere on the foot, even under a toenail. Risk factors for foot and ankle melanomas are similar to other skin cancers. They included excessive sun exposure, family history of skin cancer, numerous moles on the body and having fair skin, blue eyes or red hair.
Doctors should be highly suspicious when a patient has a pigmented or unusual lesion on the foot, Walsh advises. Anyone with moles on their feet should have the moles removed and biopsied if they change color or shape.
More information
Here's where you can learn more about melanoma.
