Stage I melanoma is up to 2mm thick (Breslow thickness or how deep the mole is. This stage, typically if caught early, ends up with no evidence the cancer has spread to lymph nodes or distant sites, called metastasize. Risk of this happening is low. There are two subgroups of Stage I melanoma: IA and IB
The tumor thickness or Breslow, is defined as how deep the tumor has got into your skin. This is measured in mm. Doesn’t take much, as mine was 9 mm. Just gives you an idea of how much was needed to cause my chaos!
•1 mm = .04 inch, or less than 1/16 inch—about equal to the edge of a penny.
•2 mm = between 1/16 and 1/8 inch—about equal to the edge of a nickel
Here comes the part where things are very particular, in stage I. Stage I is organized by how deep the tumor is and if there’s any ulceration (if the tumor has broken the skins epidermis). Tumors, that are LESS than .8 mm without ulceration are Stage IA, but tumors that are LARGER than 1-2 mm without ulceration are Stage IB. Tumors that are LESS than .8 mm WITH ulceration and tumors that are between .8-1 mm with or without ulceration are Stage IB.
TWIST: a SLNB (sentinel lymph node biopsy) can be done, typically to determine whether any cancer cells have spread to the sentinel node. This node is the first lymph node (closest drainage area) to near the primary tumor. If your told that there is no evidence of melanoma on your lymph nodes, you’re now placed back up to Stage IA.
Stage II melanoma staging, the cancer cells are both the first and second layer of your skin, the epidermis and dermis. Unfortunately the melanoma is at higher risk, than if you were in Stage I. This is based off of the depth of tumor or the ulceration. In Stage II, there is no evidence that the cancer has spread to lymph nodes or spread to distant sites (metastasized). This is exactly where I was, Stage IIA. Soon after my wide excision (WLE) done, we went ahead with a sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) both of which were a couple weeks of recovery. The SLNB, for me, was painful because I had an allergic reaction to the derma bond. It was awful (see slideshow ⬇️ ). After 4 weeks, and a second opinion, I was diagnosed Stage IIA metastatic melanoma.
Stage II melanoma is typically localized melanoma, meaning, it hasn’t spread past the primary tumor. I thought mine hadn’t spread and I was told my melanoma, hasn’t spread, after my SLNB.
There are three subgroups of Stage II melanoma: IIA, IIB, and IIC. Stage IIA, that’s my diagnosis, my tumor was: 9mm! If the tumor1 to 2mm thick, with ulceration. Or the tumor is 2 to 4mm thick, without ulceration. There is no evidence of spread to nearby lymph nodes. There is no evidence of metastasis to distant sites.
Stage IIB: The tumor is 2 to 4 mm thick, with ulceration, OR tumor is greater than 4mm thick, without ulceration. There is no evidence of spread to nearby lymph nodes. There is no evidence of metastasis to distant sites.
Stage IIC: The tumor is greater than 4mm thick, with ulceration. There is no evidence of spread to nearby lymph nodes. There is no evidence of metastasis to distant sites.
*Risk: doing treatment in Stage II, is considered medium to high risk, for local recurrence or for regional and distant metastases.
Facts: AIMatMelanoma + mymelanomaworld
