A woman has been diagnosed with a rare form of skin cancer after an intense itch between her two leftmost toes that wouldn’t go away.
Amy Jardon, then 40 and from Cedar Falls, Iowa, said the itch started in early 2015 and when she took off her sock to scratch it, she noticed a pinhead-sized brown spot between her toes.
She had never seen the place before, she said, and it also had rings around it that made it look like a miniature Saturn.
Doctors took a biopsy and diagnosed her with acral melanoma, a rare skin cancer that occurs only on the hands, feet, fingernails, and toenails. It is linked to irritation and friction on the skin, rather than exposure to sunlight like other skin cancers.
Ms Jardon, now 48, had her cancer successfully removed in surgery – and a few months later she was even able to run marathons again. She now goes for skin checks every year.
Amy Jardon, of Cedar Falls, Iowa, was diagnosed with a rare form of skin cancer at age 40. She is pictured above
This image shows the skin cancer between her two leftmost toes. Ms Jardon described the cancer site as being as big as a pinhead and with rings around it like a miniature Saturn
Mrs. Jardon described the moment she noticed the spot TODAY“I thought, ‘That’s interesting. I’ve never noticed that before.’
The receptionist at the time had an appointment with her doctor for another condition the following week, but asked about the location.
Her doctor said it was “nothing” and “don’t worry,” but still recommended a biopsy just to be sure.
After this procedure, a nurse called to tell her that the spot had been diagnosed as melanoma.
“I was shocked,” said Mrs. Jardon. “I quickly sat down… I was diagnosed in 2015, January, February.
‘My mother passed away from cancer on December 12th. My sister was diagnosed with another form of cancer six months earlier.’
Ms. Jardon decided to get a second opinion from the Mayo Clinic, who also said she had melanoma, but the type was acral melanoma.
Melanoma – the main form of skin cancer – is generally caused by exposure to UV radiation from sunlight that causes mutations in skin cells, turning them into cancer.
But acral melanoma, a rare form of the condition, appears in areas not normally exposed to sunlight.
The City of Hope cancer treatment center in California, ranked as one of the best in the country, says cancer can be caused by stress on the skin.
They said online: ‘These cancers develop on parts of the body that are not regularly exposed to the sun.
“Researchers aren’t exactly sure what causes acral melanoma, but it’s believed to be related to pressure, friction, irritation, and trauma to the area.”
Irritation and friction of the skin can lead to inflammation in the area, increasing the risk of harmful mutations in the skin cells and, as a result, of skin cancer. But this doesn’t happen often.
Runners who spend a lot of time outdoors are already known to have a higher risk of melanoma because they are more exposed to sunlight.
But they can also cause more irritation to their feet from running, which can increase the risk of other forms of melanoma.
Her oncologist recommended cutting out the cancer in a surgery called a wide lesion excision — which uses a scalpel to cut away the cancerous skin and the healthy area around it.
Ms Jardon asked for a postponement as a race was coming up – to which her doctors agreed.
“Looking back, I wouldn’t recommend that to people,” she said.
Ms. Jardon now works as a cancer advocate
“I think he thought this was an early phase and he was going to ruin my world by telling me I couldn’t run anymore. He gave me one last hurrah.’
After surgery, Ms. Jardon sat on the couch with her foot off the floor for a month while the skin healed.
When the stitches were removed — which caused the skin to grow back together — she was encouraged to put weight back on her foot.
She started using it for about 10 minutes a day, then 30 minutes, and so on until she was able to get back to normal strength.
She was able to run again several months after surgery, completing a 21.1-mile run and then two half marathons.
She was screened every few months after the initial cancer detection and now goes for checkups once a year. The cancer has not returned.
There are about 100,000 cases of melanoma in the United States each year, of which about 3,000 to 5,000 are of the acral type.
Warning signs include an inflamed lesion on the hands or feet, a black, gray, or brown spot with irregular borders, or an unexplained streak in a nail.
The spots may also have a parallel ripple pattern — or form multiple lines — resembling the rings around Saturn.
The inflammation that the cancer causes in the affected area can also cause itching.
The main cancer treatment is surgery to cut out the cancer cells before they spread to other parts of the body.
In cases where it is caught at a late stage and has already spread, patients may be offered immunotherapy and other cancer-targeted drugs.
About 94 out of every 100 people diagnosed with melanoma survive the condition for five years or more after diagnosis.
But in patients with acral melanoma, the survival rate is slightly lower, in 80 out of 100 people five years after diagnosis.
Researchers suggest this may be due to the cancer taking longer to diagnose due to its position, leading to an increased risk of it spreading to other parts of the body.