Skin Cancer Guide
Everyone should be educated on suspicious looking moles using the ABCDE skin cancer guide below. Even if you have carefully practiced sun safety during the summer months, it’s important to continue being vigilant about your skin in the other seasons as well. Throughout the year, you should examine your skin head-to-toe once a month, looking for any suspicious lesions. Self-exams can help identify potential skin cancer early when they can almost always be completely cured.
First, for a successful self-exam, you obviously need to know what you’re looking for. As a general rule, to spot either melanomas or non-melanoma skin cancers such as basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, take note of any new moles or growths, and any existing growths that begin to grow or change significantly in any other way. Lesions that change, itch, bleed, or don’t heal are also alarm signals.
It is so vital to catch melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, early that physicians developed a strategy for early recognition of the disease.
Warning signs: the ABCDEs of Skin Cancer Guide
Moles, brown spots and growths on the skin are usually harmless — but not always. Anyone who has more than 100 moles is at greater risk for melanoma. The first signs can appear in one or more atypical moles. That’s why it’s so important to get to know your skin very well and to recognize any changes in the moles on your body. Look for the ABCDE signs of melanoma, and if you see one or more, make an appointment with a physician immediately.
A: Asymmetry
This benign mole is not asymmetrical. If you draw a line through the middle, the two sides will match, meaning it is symmetrical. If you draw a line through this mole, the two halves will not match, meaning it is asymmetrical, a warning sign for melanoma.
B: Border
A benign mole has smooth, even borders, unlike melanomas. The borders of an early melanoma tend to be uneven. The edges may be irregular, scalloped or notched. Because cancer symptoms may vary—and not all melanomas develop from moles—discuss any new or unusual skin growths with your doctor.
C: Color
Most benign moles are all one color — often a single shade of brown. Having a variety of colors is another warning signal. A number of different shades of brown, tan or black could appear. A melanoma may also become red, white or blue.
D: Diameter
Benign moles usually have a smaller diameter than malignant ones. Melanomas usually are larger in diameter than the eraser on your pencil tip (¼ inch or 6mm), but they may sometimes be smaller when first detected.
E: Evolving
Common, benign moles look the same over time. Be on the alert when a mole starts to evolve or change in any way. When a mole is evolving, see your dermatologist. Any change — in size, shape, color, elevation, or another trait, or any new symptom such as bleeding, itching or crusting — points to danger.
This chart is not a replacement for an annual mole check visit to MetroDerm, P.C. Skin cancer is treatable if caught in the early stages. Call for an appointment today. MetroDerm, P.C. serves all of metro Atlanta, GA, and outlying areas including Tucker, Norcross, Snellville, Duluth, Chamblee, Lilburn, Roswell, Milton, and Sandy Springs.