Cancer starts when the cells in the body start to grow abnormally. While cells in any body part may become cancerous, melanoma is characterized by cancer spreading in the skin cells and moles appearing on the skin. This is why it is known as skin cancer too. It begins in certain types of cells, mainly known as basal cells, squamous cells, and melanocytes.

Causes and treatments of melanoma skin cancer
The main cause of skin cancer or melanoma can be attributed to the malfunctioning of melanocytes, which are the cells that produce melanin and imbue a lot of color to the skin. Some of the main causes are sun damage to the skin and overexposure to UV rays. However, not all skin cancers are caused due to the aforementioned reasons. Even so, sun protection is greatly advised. In case you see any of the symptoms, getting a diagnosis and then starting on the treatment may become crucial. Following are some of the available forms of treatments for Melanoma skin cancer.

• Surgery
  Surgery is considered mainly to treat the initial stages of melanoma skin cancer. It is the primary source of treatment and requires a lot of expertise to eliminate the cancerous growths inside the skin cells. Some of the methods used for surgery are known as wide excision, lymph node dissection, and surgery for metastatic melanoma. Under wide excision, the procedures used are also referred to as Mohs surgery and amputation. The lymph nodes are removed depending upon their prevalence in the affected area. The kind of surgery to be performed would only be decided once the stage of your cancer is determined.
• Immunotherapy
  Under immunotherapy, the body is administered drugs or triggers that help the immune system of the body to fight the cancerous cells. The newer types of drugs used in immunotherapy show a lot of promise and a good success rate for treating advanced forms of melanoma. Some of the inhibitors are known as, PD-1 inhibitors and CTLA-4 inhibitor. Drugs known as cytokines are also used in immunotherapy.
• Targeted therapy
  This therapy is a fairly new treatment used in the cancer healing realm. These drugs mainly target the cancerous cells and try to destroy the part which is responsible for separating them from normal cells. They have a different function as compared to the usual chemotherapy drugs and sometimes they show better performance in cases where chemotherapy drugs fail to perform. The doctors need to take into consideration gene changes before they can prescribe using this particular therapy.
• Radiation therapy
  Radiation therapy makes use of very strong UV rays and high x-rays to destroy the cancer cells growing in the skin. Radiation therapy is not generally preferred. However, it may be used if the surgery does not seem possible due to certain circumstances. In some cases, it may be performed once the surgery is completed, so that chances of the cancer returning remain negligible.
• Chemotherapy
  This is generally used to destroy the cancer cells that come back once the treatment is over. It can be taken through intravenous methods or administered through pills. Some of the most used chemotherapy drugs used to treat melanoma skin cancer are Dacarbazine, Temozolomide, Paclitaxel, and Cisplatin, amongst many others.

Preventive measures
Protecting yourself from UV rays and major sun damage are the two key factors that you can practice to avoid melanoma skin cancer. Sun protection can be done via sunscreens, using hats, wearing long-sleeved clothes and full pants, and many other methods.