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