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Q: 

What's a quick way to find out if you have melanoma?

By Anonymous June 19, 2012 - 12:35pm
 
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Here recently I have noticed more and more moles appearing on my hubands head. Some of them are bigger than others and some darker as well. Could this be melanoma or just a mole?

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Guide

Hello Anonymous,
Melanoma, which is the most dangerous form of skin cancer, often resemble a mole and some develop from moles.
The Skin Cancer Foundation offers the ABCDE warning signs of melanoma:

A- Asymmetry- if you draw a line through the mole, the two halves will not match
B- Border- the borders of an early melanoma tend to be uneven. The edges may be scalloped or notched
C- Color- a mole that has 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, blue or some other color.
D-Diameter- melanomas usually are larger in diameter than the size of the eraser on a pencil, about 1/4 inch or 6 mm. They may sometimes be smaller when first detected.
E- Evolving- any change in the size, shape, color, elevation or another trait or any new symptoms such as bleeding, itching or crusting points to danger.

Here is the link to the website, which includes photos of a benign mole compared to a melanoma:
http://www.skincancer.org/skin-cancer-information/melanoma

Hope this helps,
Maryann

June 19, 2012 - 4:22pm
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