Health & Fitness
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Diameter
The spot is larger than ¼ inch across – about the size of a pencil eraser – although melanomas can sometimes be smaller than this.
Evolving
The mole is changing in size, shape, or color.
Basal and squamous cell skin cancers are more common than melanomas, but they are usually very treatable.
Both basal cell carcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas, or cancers, usually grow on parts of the body that get the most sun, such as the face, head, and neck. But they can show up anywhere.
Basal cell carcinomas: what to look for:
- Flat, firm, pale or yellow areas, similar to a scar
- Raised reddish patches that might be itchy
- Small translucent, shiny, pearly bumps that are pink or red and which might have blue, brown, or black areas
- Pink growths with raised edges and a lower area in their center, which might have abnormal blood vessels spreading out like the spokes of a wheel
- Open sores (that may have oozing or crusted areas) and which don’t heal, or heal and then come back
Squamous cell carcinomas: what to look for:
- Rough or scaly red patches, which might crust or bleed
- Raised growths or lumps, sometimes with a lower area in the center
- Open sores (that may have oozing or crusted areas) and which don’t heal, or heal and then come back
- Wart-like growths
Not all skin cancers look like these descriptions, though. Point out anything you’re concerned about to your doctor, including:
- Any new spots
- Any spot that doesn’t look like others on your body
- Any sore that doesn’t heal
- Redness or new swelling beyond the border of a mole
- Color that spreads from the border of a spot into surrounding skin
- Itching, pain, or tenderness in an area that doesn’t go away or goes away then comes back
- Changes in the surface of a mole: oozing, scaliness, bleeding, or the appearance of a lump or bump
