Skin Cancer

Symptoms

General Warning Signs

The following signs may mean cancer or that one will happen.  These signs may be tender to the touch:

  • A waxy, pearly pimple on the skin covered with splotchy enlarged blood vessels and with a rolled” border
  • A scar-like abnormality
  • A reddish skin patch (flat or slightly raised)
  • Rough, scaly, or crusted areas of the skin
  • Thick, horny growths
  • Wounds that ooze and do not heal after a reasonable time
  • A skin patch or mole that seems newly pigmented (darkened)
  • Any changes in color, size, surface, or borders of a mole

The "ABCD"s of Melanoma

The warning signs for melanoma are moles that have:

  • Asymmetry (uneven or irregular shape)
  • Borders that are uneven
  • Colors (tan, brown, gray, black or blue-black or a varying change in skin)
  • Diameter (a mole or skin change of more than about a quarter of an inch).

Older adults also need to check for dark brown or black patches on the following areas, because these may be melanomas: 

  • Palms of the hands
  • Soles of the feet
  • Nail beds of the fingers or toes.

Common skin lesions that are not cancer

A common type of skin growth, which starts around age 50, are seborrheic keratoses. They look like stuck-on, dark red or brown patches. They usually happen on a person’s chest, back, and face. These growths are not cancerous.

Contact your usual healthcare provider or a dermatologist (a doctor with special training in skin diseases) if you notice anything on your skin that seems abnormal or suspicious to you.

 

Last Updated May 2023

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