Melanoma can spread at varying speeds depending on its type, stage, and individual factors, but it is generally considered an aggressive form of skin cancer.
- Some melanomas, especially nodular melanoma, can grow very quickly and become life-threatening in as little as six weeks. Nodular melanoma is an aggressive type that appears as a raised bump and can penetrate deeply within a few months, accounting for about 15% to 20% of melanoma cases and a significant portion of melanoma deaths due to rapid growth and early metastasis
- Other types, such as superficial spreading melanoma and lentigo maligna melanoma, tend to grow more slowly, often over months or years. These types usually spread horizontally across the skin before penetrating deeper layers
- Melanoma can metastasize (spread) to regional lymph nodes and distant organs like the brain, lungs, liver, and bones. Studies suggest that metastasis can begin long before the primary melanoma is diagnosed-sometimes up to 18 months or even years earlier-indicating that melanoma cells may disseminate early in the disease course
- The prognosis and survival rates vary significantly by stage at diagnosis: localized melanoma (stage 0) has a 5-year survival rate over 99%, while melanoma that has spread to distant organs (stage 4) has a much lower survival rate around 35%
In summary, melanoma's speed of spread ranges from weeks (especially for nodular melanoma) to years (for slower-growing types), making early detection and treatment crucial to improving outcomes
