Life Insurance

Insurance companies don't care about the odds.  They may not even insure with melanoma in situ which is almost a 100% cure rate.  Melanoma is just one of those outliers when it comes to cancer and it is extremely difficult to get any type of insurance (health/life) after a diagnosis regardless of stage.  I know even AFLAC considers any lesion that is Clark's Level III or greater to be "internal cancer".  They don't even ask about depth! 

You are looking for logic where there is none.

Insurance companies don't care about the odds.  They may not even insure with melanoma in situ which is almost a 100% cure rate.  Melanoma is just one of those outliers when it comes to cancer and it is extremely difficult to get any type of insurance (health/life) after a diagnosis regardless of stage.  I know even AFLAC considers any lesion that is Clark's Level III or greater to be "internal cancer".  They don't even ask about depth! 

You are looking for logic where there is none.

Insurance companies don't care about the odds.  They may not even insure with melanoma in situ which is almost a 100% cure rate.  Melanoma is just one of those outliers when it comes to cancer and it is extremely difficult to get any type of insurance (health/life) after a diagnosis regardless of stage.  I know even AFLAC considers any lesion that is Clark's Level III or greater to be "internal cancer".  They don't even ask about depth! 

You are looking for logic where there is none.

Usually when someone says it can come back they don't mean a new lesion, they mean that original one has spread.  Sometimes even with a very thin melanoma a cell or two can travel before the whole thing is removed.  In my case my thin "you caught it early" lesion probably sent a cell or two away where it sat and did nothing for a long time.  A few years later after a few illnesses my immune system was really compromised and the thought is that those cells started to grow then.  In theory, surgery will "cure" the VAST majority of stage 1A melanoma.  In reality, there's a lot of us on this board who had their stage 1A become stage 3 or 4.  What you have to remember is that this bulletin board doesn't show that huge number of those who never have it return – it's a lopsided view with many of us in here. 

DebbieH, stage 1A for 6 years, stage IIIC for 11.

So the thinking is these 1 or 2 cells sit there for however long, kept in check by immune system (why doesn't immune system just kill the 1 or 2 cells?) and then when you're immunocompromised they proliferate?

Exactly how cancer works is not yet known.  Some researchers believe everyone has active cancer cells in their system but generally the immune system prevents them from proliferating.   As others have said, this board is NOT a good reflection of the melanoma community as a whole.  People who seek ongoing support usually have more challenging or complicated cases. 

There are many people who have had stage I melanoma who never have other issues.  Why this is the case as opposed to those who do is not an easy question to answer. 

Remember when HIV infection was first identified?  It was initially thought that only 10% of those wiho tested positive for HIV would go on to have AIDS related complex and full blown AIDS.  That was significantly revised.  Another example is the Lassa Fever virus.  Most people who get it do not get terribly sick but a percentage do and get the hemorraghic complications and some die.  There is much yet to be learned about how the body responds to foreign invaders and why some people are able to fight them off yet they sicken or even kill others.

Exactly how cancer works is not yet known.  Some researchers believe everyone has active cancer cells in their system but generally the immune system prevents them from proliferating.   As others have said, this board is NOT a good reflection of the melanoma community as a whole.  People who seek ongoing support usually have more challenging or complicated cases. 

There are many people who have had stage I melanoma who never have other issues.  Why this is the case as opposed to those who do is not an easy question to answer. 

Remember when HIV infection was first identified?  It was initially thought that only 10% of those wiho tested positive for HIV would go on to have AIDS related complex and full blown AIDS.  That was significantly revised.  Another example is the Lassa Fever virus.  Most people who get it do not get terribly sick but a percentage do and get the hemorraghic complications and some die.  There is much yet to be learned about how the body responds to foreign invaders and why some people are able to fight them off yet they sicken or even kill others.

Exactly how cancer works is not yet known.  Some researchers believe everyone has active cancer cells in their system but generally the immune system prevents them from proliferating.   As others have said, this board is NOT a good reflection of the melanoma community as a whole.  People who seek ongoing support usually have more challenging or complicated cases. 

There are many people who have had stage I melanoma who never have other issues.  Why this is the case as opposed to those who do is not an easy question to answer. 

Remember when HIV infection was first identified?  It was initially thought that only 10% of those wiho tested positive for HIV would go on to have AIDS related complex and full blown AIDS.  That was significantly revised.  Another example is the Lassa Fever virus.  Most people who get it do not get terribly sick but a percentage do and get the hemorraghic complications and some die.  There is much yet to be learned about how the body responds to foreign invaders and why some people are able to fight them off yet they sicken or even kill others.

So the thinking is these 1 or 2 cells sit there for however long, kept in check by immune system (why doesn't immune system just kill the 1 or 2 cells?) and then when you're immunocompromised they proliferate?

So the thinking is these 1 or 2 cells sit there for however long, kept in check by immune system (why doesn't immune system just kill the 1 or 2 cells?) and then when you're immunocompromised they proliferate?

Usually when someone says it can come back they don't mean a new lesion, they mean that original one has spread.  Sometimes even with a very thin melanoma a cell or two can travel before the whole thing is removed.  In my case my thin "you caught it early" lesion probably sent a cell or two away where it sat and did nothing for a long time.  A few years later after a few illnesses my immune system was really compromised and the thought is that those cells started to grow then.  In theory, surgery will "cure" the VAST majority of stage 1A melanoma.  In reality, there's a lot of us on this board who had their stage 1A become stage 3 or 4.  What you have to remember is that this bulletin board doesn't show that huge number of those who never have it return – it's a lopsided view with many of us in here. 

DebbieH, stage 1A for 6 years, stage IIIC for 11.

Usually when someone says it can come back they don't mean a new lesion, they mean that original one has spread.  Sometimes even with a very thin melanoma a cell or two can travel before the whole thing is removed.  In my case my thin "you caught it early" lesion probably sent a cell or two away where it sat and did nothing for a long time.  A few years later after a few illnesses my immune system was really compromised and the thought is that those cells started to grow then.  In theory, surgery will "cure" the VAST majority of stage 1A melanoma.  In reality, there's a lot of us on this board who had their stage 1A become stage 3 or 4.  What you have to remember is that this bulletin board doesn't show that huge number of those who never have it return – it's a lopsided view with many of us in here. 

DebbieH, stage 1A for 6 years, stage IIIC for 11.

Here is where it gets very complex!  With no treatment, it was eventually postulated that everyone who was positive for HIV – 100%  – would develop full blown AIDS.  But that never happened because drug "cocktails" (Jim Breitfeller can explain these a lot better than I can) were developed and people began treating the illness in it's pre-symptomatic stage and were able to prevent it from progressing.  In many cases, being HIV positive is more like a chronic condition than a life – threatening one (provided the individual has access to top rate health measures).

But HIV is a retro virus.  Melanoma behaves differently.  There is no reason to believe that every person who has stage I melanoma will progress to stage IV.  There are no statistics to indicate this.  Furthermore, no other cancer behaves that way. 

Here is where it gets very complex!  With no treatment, it was eventually postulated that everyone who was positive for HIV – 100%  – would develop full blown AIDS.  But that never happened because drug "cocktails" (Jim Breitfeller can explain these a lot better than I can) were developed and people began treating the illness in it's pre-symptomatic stage and were able to prevent it from progressing.  In many cases, being HIV positive is more like a chronic condition than a life – threatening one (provided the individual has access to top rate health measures).

But HIV is a retro virus.  Melanoma behaves differently.  There is no reason to believe that every person who has stage I melanoma will progress to stage IV.  There are no statistics to indicate this.  Furthermore, no other cancer behaves that way. 

Here is where it gets very complex!  With no treatment, it was eventually postulated that everyone who was positive for HIV – 100%  – would develop full blown AIDS.  But that never happened because drug "cocktails" (Jim Breitfeller can explain these a lot better than I can) were developed and people began treating the illness in it's pre-symptomatic stage and were able to prevent it from progressing.  In many cases, being HIV positive is more like a chronic condition than a life – threatening one (provided the individual has access to top rate health measures).

But HIV is a retro virus.  Melanoma behaves differently.  There is no reason to believe that every person who has stage I melanoma will progress to stage IV.  There are no statistics to indicate this.  Furthermore, no other cancer behaves that way. 

I don't think there is any scientific evidence indicating this and a lot that indicates they don't.  As long as the stage one melanoma is treated (surgically removed deep enough), there are generally not recurrances.

I don't think there is any scientific evidence indicating this and a lot that indicates they don't.  As long as the stage one melanoma is treated (surgically removed deep enough), there are generally not recurrances.

I don't think there is any scientific evidence indicating this and a lot that indicates they don't.  As long as the stage one melanoma is treated (surgically removed deep enough), there are generally not recurrances.