My dad was just diagnosed with skin cancer. I believe it is melanoma skin cancer. He has diabetes and has had several health issues in the last year or so. i was wondering how is diabetes is going to effect his cancer and how chemo will react to his other health issues if he chooses to go down that road in the near future. Or would radiation hurt is other organs as his body is trying to fight off the cancer?
Answer:
Diabetes certainly can delay healing but we treat many individuals with melanoma who have diabetes who do extremely well following treatment. The most important thing is whether the melanoma is relatively thin and can be cured with surgery. If the tumor has spread to lymph nodes or other locations, it does become more difficult to treat as then chemotherapy and radiation may be required. Unfortunately, most of these treatments are not very effective today regardless of whether the patient has diabetes or not.
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