Multiple melanomas can be cured.

Multiple primary melanomas do not necessarily imply a poorer prognosis, according to a clinical study. It "showed that the prognosis is the same as that of the original, or thickest, melanoma," notes Stephan Ariyan, surgical director, Yale Melanoma Unit, Yale University School of Medicine. "The subsequent melanomas were significantly thinner than the first one." About 10% of those who have had one melanoma will develop another, generally within five years.

The study, conducted over a period of 10 years, included 27 patients who developed more than one primary melanoma. Twenty-two developed a second melanoma and five developed a third melanoma, all of which were thin lesions. Following removal of the subsequent melanomas, 26 of the patients remained disease free despite the thickness of their melanomas. While the other patient remained disease free where the melanomas were removed, the cancer spread to his liver and was being treated by chemotherapy.

Patients are less frightened by diagnosis of diabetes, even though it is incurable," Ariyan points out "Melanoma...