Do hormones, birth control pills or pregnancy increase the incidence or severity of melanoma?
One study noted a a six-fold increase in melanoma risk in women who noticed that their moles darkened and increased in diameter during pregnancy. Several other studies, however, have shown no convincing evidence that birth control pills, hormone replacement or pregnancy worsen the risk for melanoma. In spite of the lack of evidence of a hormonal effect, some physicians advocate deferring pregnancy after treatment for a melanoma until the highest risk of recurrence, the first 3 years, have passed. Estrogens in pills, hormones and pregnancy stimulate melanin production in the skin but do not appear to be a major stimulant for the cells containing the melanin such as moles or freckles. What happens if a melanoma lesion is found? Treatment for a melanoma is usually a wide local excision of the skin around and underneath the pigmented lesion. Generally a lesion that is confined to the most superficial layer of skin and is less than a millimeter (mm) thick is excised with a 5-10 mm margin of
