| What Does Skin Cancer Look Like? The most common warning sign of skin cancer is a change on the skin, especially a new growth or a sore that doesn't heal. But how can tell a harmless spot from a potentially cancerous one? The five key signs of skin cancer to look out for are as follows: Sign 1 Non-uniformity of colour - where the spot is not one constant colour. Sign 2 Non-roundness - cancerous spots tend to deviate from the general round or oval shapes of most skin blemishes. Sign 3 Itching and bleeding - very few regular skin blemishes will itch and bleed, assuming that you don't start picking them. Sign 4 Significant size - any dark spot that is larger than 1/2cm (5mm) from one side to the other should be checked out. Sign 5 Irregular border - where the edges of the spot are ragged or blurred. However, before you start panicking about every dark spot on your body, it is worth remembering that skin cancer is still very rare in the UK despite the year on year increase. There are fewer than 8000 cases of malignant melanoma each year. And as long as the cancer is caught at an early stage, survival rates are very high. |
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