What Is The Final Stage Of Skin Cancer?

By Author: Akshay Sharma
Total Articles: 8
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Skin cancer are of two types including melanoma akin cancer and non- melanoma skin cancer. Non- melanoma skin cancer is further divided as Squamous cell carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma. In all the three skin cancers that are melanoma , basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, the final or last stage of cancer is Stage 4. However, the name varies according to the type of the cancer. For melanoma skin cancer it is called metastatic melanoma, for basal cell carcinoma called metastatic basal cell carcinoma and for squamous cell carcinoma known as metastatic squamous cell carcinoma.
What Does Stage 4 of Skin Cancer Mean?
Stage 4 cancer means the skin cancer size in the body is of any size and has spread to more than one part of the body. This stage is the most fatal one and it hardly ever gets cured or treated. The survival rate of the cancer patients whose cancer reached stage 4 is very low and the time of living can be increased with therapies, treatment, medicines and special care routine, however death is something that is mostly the end result of this stage.

Though, this stage reaches very slowly ...
... when it comes to basal cell carcinoma and a proper Basal cell carcinoma treatment can help with making the patient fully recovered. While, in case of melanoma skin cancer type, it is a comparatively very rapidly growing type and spreads easily to other body parts and thus the stage 4 also reaches quickly.

This stage 4 of skin cancer tells numerous of things like the cancer has:-

1. Grown through the outside covering of the affected lymph node.

2. Spread to the other lymph nodes or is of size between 3 cm and 6 cm.

3. Spread to the lymph nodes on the other side of the patient’s body.

4. bone marrow or bone, including the bottom of the skull - and this has damaged the bone.

5. This stage is further divided into 4 categories to define the areas of the body it has spread to.

6. M1a means cancer spreads far from the affected area of the skin.

7. M1b means cancer has extended to the lungs.

8. M1c means cancer has spread to a location other than the central nervous system.

9. M1d means the cancer has spread to other CNS parts including brain, spinal cord, and/or cerebrospinal fluid.