Saving Your Skin : Prevention, Early Detection, and Treatment of Melanoma and Other Skin Cancers

An all-around guide, "Saving Your Skin" includes information on how to detect melanoma in its early stages--with descriptions of what it is and what causes it--how to fight sun, the skin's worst enemy; how to perform a skin self-exam at home; how to pick a dermatologist; patient support networks; and more. Color photos. Illustrations. Library Journal Despite continued warnings about sun exposure, melanoma ``is increasing at a faster rate than any other cancer in the U.S.'' By the year 2000, one percent of all Americans will be affected; approximately 32,000 citizens were diagnosed with this cancer in 1993. Kenet, a dermatologist at Cornell Medical Center, and Lawler, a former consumer reporter and cofounder of the American Melanoma Foundation, provide statistics, history, a list of risk factors, and sobering vignettes in this comprehensive guide. Especially helpful is their information on identification, screening, treatment, and prevention of the disease. Experimental therapies and techniques such as vaccine therapy and biopsies through computer imaging are clearly explained. The authors' practical and thorough advice on such topics as choosing a physician and the stages of melanoma will answer worrisome questions faced by cancer patients and their families. Most books available on melanoma are expensive clinical texts; this is an excellent medium-priced selection. Recommended for popular health collections.-Catherine Greene, Bethesda Memorial Hosp. Lib., Boynton Beach, Fla. Tells how to identify melanoma in its early stages, how to protect one's skin from the sun, and why the threat of skin cancer is increasing