{"id":654,"date":"2017-10-05T12:11:31","date_gmt":"2017-10-05T16:11:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.melanomaeducation.net\/?p=362"},"modified":"2019-07-21T13:47:16","modified_gmt":"2019-07-21T13:47:16","slug":"age-spots-and-melanoma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/age-spots-and-melanoma\/","title":{"rendered":"Age Spots and Melanoma"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>If you\u2019re a nonmedical layperson, you know them as <em>age spots<\/em>, <em>sun spots<\/em> or <em>liver spots<\/em>. If you\u2019re a doctor, they\u2019re <em>solar lentigines<\/em> or <em>actinic lentigines<\/em>. Whatever you call them though, while visually unappealing most age spots are benign (safe\/noncancerous). They can start to appear as early as a person\u2019s 40\u2019s, usually on the face, neck and backs of hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, some develop into a form of <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.melanomaeducation.net\/in-situ-melanoma\/\">in situ<\/a> (<em>in place<\/em>) melanoma called <em>lentigo maligna<\/em>. From there between 5 to 20% of lentigo malignas can further develop into the invasive <em>lentigo maligna melanoma<\/em>, over the course of a 5 to 20-year span. On its own, lentigo maligna doesn\u2019t pose much risk. But it becomes far more hazardous if a melanoma forms inside of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most age spots and melanomas are created by the same source, natural and artificial UV (ultraviolet) rays. And while both may also have similar visual characteristics, there is an enormous difference between them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>People with age spots can try to diminish them through a wide variety of cosmetic procedures if they wish. Or, if they can tolerate their appearance on their skin, they can just leave them be and suffer no adverse medical consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Melanoma, conversely, must be diagnosed and treated as quickly as possible after it has been discovered. The timing of treatment can easily mean the difference between life and death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These points are important to remember because it can be difficult for even a trained professional to determine what is or is not melanoma just by looking at it. That\u2019s why what you may assume to be an age spot should be checked out by a dermatologist if it is changing, or showing any of the ABCD warning signs. If it turns out to be nothing, fine. But for the sake of your health it\u2019s always a step worth taking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These 3 photos, from left to right, depict examples of age spots, lentigo maligna and lentigo maligna melanoma:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Lentigo-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-359\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/LentigoMaligna-1-150x119.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-358\" width=\"189\" height=\"150\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/LentigoMalignaMelanoma-1-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-357\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"clear\"><br>*Additional source articles: <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dermnetnz.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">DermNet New Zealand<\/a>, <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"http:\/\/www.livestrong.com\/article\/112065-melanoma-vs.-age-spots\/\" target=\"_blank\">Livestrong.com<\/a>, <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dermnetnz.org\/topics\/lentigo-maligna-and-lentigo-maligna-melanoma\/\" target=\"_blank\">DermNet New Zealand<\/a> (Same source, separate article)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019re a nonmedical layperson, you know them as age spots, sun spots or liver spots. If you\u2019re a doctor, they\u2019re solar lentigines or actinic lentigines. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[9,41,43,64],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1183,"href":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654\/revisions\/1183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}