› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Just diagnosed with clark 4
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gail6664.
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- May 7, 2013 at 6:57 pm
I am a 48yr old woman that has just been diagnosed with clarks level 4, what does this mean? I had a topical byopsy done which was negative, but was told it was an atypical mole that needed to be checked. Went to a surgeon had it removed, and was told it was a clark 4, went back and had a deeper and wider proceedure done, now waiting for results.
I am a 48yr old woman that has just been diagnosed with clarks level 4, what does this mean? I had a topical byopsy done which was negative, but was told it was an atypical mole that needed to be checked. Went to a surgeon had it removed, and was told it was a clark 4, went back and had a deeper and wider proceedure done, now waiting for results.
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- May 7, 2013 at 7:52 pm
Clark's Level is an antiquated way of describing a melanoma lesion. It's not very informative for us. What I suggest you do is get a copy of your biopsy pathology report as well as the wide excision pathology report. Just call your doc and ask for copies. You can post them here and we can help you decipher them, but basically you are looking for a Breslow depth or some number in millimeters to describe the lesion. There are also other factors that influence staging so that's why it is easier to just post the whole report.
In general though, it sounds like this is most likely an early lesion based on the fact that you don't say they tested any lymph nodes. Prognosis is probably very good. But we could be much more helpful if we had more information.
Best wishes,
Janner
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- May 7, 2013 at 7:52 pm
Clark's Level is an antiquated way of describing a melanoma lesion. It's not very informative for us. What I suggest you do is get a copy of your biopsy pathology report as well as the wide excision pathology report. Just call your doc and ask for copies. You can post them here and we can help you decipher them, but basically you are looking for a Breslow depth or some number in millimeters to describe the lesion. There are also other factors that influence staging so that's why it is easier to just post the whole report.
In general though, it sounds like this is most likely an early lesion based on the fact that you don't say they tested any lymph nodes. Prognosis is probably very good. But we could be much more helpful if we had more information.
Best wishes,
Janner
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- May 7, 2013 at 7:52 pm
Clark's Level is an antiquated way of describing a melanoma lesion. It's not very informative for us. What I suggest you do is get a copy of your biopsy pathology report as well as the wide excision pathology report. Just call your doc and ask for copies. You can post them here and we can help you decipher them, but basically you are looking for a Breslow depth or some number in millimeters to describe the lesion. There are also other factors that influence staging so that's why it is easier to just post the whole report.
In general though, it sounds like this is most likely an early lesion based on the fact that you don't say they tested any lymph nodes. Prognosis is probably very good. But we could be much more helpful if we had more information.
Best wishes,
Janner
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- May 7, 2013 at 11:26 pm
Thank you for your response, I am very scared. He told me it was a #4, when I asked what that was, he said a clark 4.Before I went into the 2nd removel, he told me that he was almost sure there wasn't anything else, that this was standard proceedure, and that it was deep. I am going to see an Onocologist this friday to find out the results of the 2nd one. I am then going to request a copy of everything. I have had this red mole for about 4yrs, and my family doc said it wasn't anything to worry about, the only reason why it was checked by a Dermatologist was because I was sent there for a cyst on my cheek to be checked, and I asked her to check the mark on my leg. Thank God I did or I would not have found this out.
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- May 7, 2013 at 11:26 pm
Thank you for your response, I am very scared. He told me it was a #4, when I asked what that was, he said a clark 4.Before I went into the 2nd removel, he told me that he was almost sure there wasn't anything else, that this was standard proceedure, and that it was deep. I am going to see an Onocologist this friday to find out the results of the 2nd one. I am then going to request a copy of everything. I have had this red mole for about 4yrs, and my family doc said it wasn't anything to worry about, the only reason why it was checked by a Dermatologist was because I was sent there for a cyst on my cheek to be checked, and I asked her to check the mark on my leg. Thank God I did or I would not have found this out.
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- May 8, 2013 at 2:45 am
Just so you understand, the doctor may have meant the second excision was deep, not your melanoma lesion. They always take all the skin and subcutaneous fat down to the muscle layer. In general, they typically do a SNB (sentinel node biopsy) on lesions over 1mm so I'd think it likely that yours is less than that. They have to do that before they do the WLE (wide local excision). Since that wasn't done, we basically infer that the depth of your lesion was small. Of course, we can't know for certain without seeing the pathology report but I wouldn't be jumping to any conclusions about you having a deep lesion.
Hang in there and take a deep breath, and let us know how it goes with the oncologist.
Best wishes,
Janner
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- May 8, 2013 at 2:45 am
Just so you understand, the doctor may have meant the second excision was deep, not your melanoma lesion. They always take all the skin and subcutaneous fat down to the muscle layer. In general, they typically do a SNB (sentinel node biopsy) on lesions over 1mm so I'd think it likely that yours is less than that. They have to do that before they do the WLE (wide local excision). Since that wasn't done, we basically infer that the depth of your lesion was small. Of course, we can't know for certain without seeing the pathology report but I wouldn't be jumping to any conclusions about you having a deep lesion.
Hang in there and take a deep breath, and let us know how it goes with the oncologist.
Best wishes,
Janner
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- May 8, 2013 at 4:29 pm
Well, just recieved the results of the 2nd proceedure. They told me it came back clear, they didn't find anymore, but told me to still follow up with the Oncologist. Hope it goes well. Thanks again for your response, it really made me feel better. This is an awesome site. I will post the outcome of the visit this friday.
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- May 8, 2013 at 4:29 pm
Well, just recieved the results of the 2nd proceedure. They told me it came back clear, they didn't find anymore, but told me to still follow up with the Oncologist. Hope it goes well. Thanks again for your response, it really made me feel better. This is an awesome site. I will post the outcome of the visit this friday.
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- May 8, 2013 at 4:29 pm
Well, just recieved the results of the 2nd proceedure. They told me it came back clear, they didn't find anymore, but told me to still follow up with the Oncologist. Hope it goes well. Thanks again for your response, it really made me feel better. This is an awesome site. I will post the outcome of the visit this friday.
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- May 8, 2013 at 2:45 am
Just so you understand, the doctor may have meant the second excision was deep, not your melanoma lesion. They always take all the skin and subcutaneous fat down to the muscle layer. In general, they typically do a SNB (sentinel node biopsy) on lesions over 1mm so I'd think it likely that yours is less than that. They have to do that before they do the WLE (wide local excision). Since that wasn't done, we basically infer that the depth of your lesion was small. Of course, we can't know for certain without seeing the pathology report but I wouldn't be jumping to any conclusions about you having a deep lesion.
Hang in there and take a deep breath, and let us know how it goes with the oncologist.
Best wishes,
Janner
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- May 7, 2013 at 11:26 pm
Thank you for your response, I am very scared. He told me it was a #4, when I asked what that was, he said a clark 4.Before I went into the 2nd removel, he told me that he was almost sure there wasn't anything else, that this was standard proceedure, and that it was deep. I am going to see an Onocologist this friday to find out the results of the 2nd one. I am then going to request a copy of everything. I have had this red mole for about 4yrs, and my family doc said it wasn't anything to worry about, the only reason why it was checked by a Dermatologist was because I was sent there for a cyst on my cheek to be checked, and I asked her to check the mark on my leg. Thank God I did or I would not have found this out.
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Tagged: cutaneous melanoma
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