Melanoma

The most important warning sign of melanoma is a new spot on the skin or a spot that changes in size, shape or color. Another warning sign is a spot that looks different from all of the other spots on your skin. Other warning signs include:

A sore that doesn’t heal.

Pigment that spreads from the border of a spot into surrounding skin.

Redness or swelling beyond the border of the mole.

Itchiness, tenderness or pain.

A change in the mole’s surface, such as scaliness, oozing, bleeding or the appearance of a lump or bump.

Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that develops when melanocytes (the cells that give the skin its tan or brown color) start to grow out of control.

Cancer starts when cells in the body begin to grow out of control. Cells in nearly any part of the body can become cancer, and can then spread to other areas of the body. Melanoma is much less common than some other types of skin cancers. But melanoma is more dangerous because it’s much more likely to spread to other parts of the body if not caught and treated early.Melanoma skin cancers

Melanoma is a cancer that begins in the melanocytes. Other names for this cancer include malignant melanoma and cutaneous melanoma. Most melanoma cells still make melanin, so melanoma tumors are usually brown or black. But some melanomas do not make melanin and can appear pink, tan, or even white.

Melanomas can develop anywhere on the skin, but they are more likely to start on the trunk (chest and back) in men and on the legs in women. The neck and face are other common sites.

Having darkly pigmented skin lowers your risk of melanoma at these more common sites, but anyone can get melanoma on the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, or under the nails. Melanomas in these areas make up a much larger portion of melanomas in African Americans than in whites.

Melanomas can also form in other parts of your body, such as the eyes, mouth, genitals, and anal area, but these are much less common than melanoma of the skin.