More than 53,000 Americans this year will develop skin cancer, specifically melanoma, and some 7,000 will succumb to the disease. But it’s a highly preventable and curable cancer-if it’s caught early enough. Dermatologists have said for years that patients who take an active role by not only reducing their sun exposure but by paying close attention to changes in their skin surface can be highly effective at keeping the melanoma at bay. Some studies even show that people who regularly perform such checks have a 34 to 44 percent lower risk of developing advanced melanoma.
The problem: most people don’t know what to look for or how to tell when they’ve developed a problem.
One of the most important clues to skin cancer is the shape and size of moles that we typically ignore as unsightly blemishes. Most adults have at least several dozen benign (harmless) moles. Sometimes, though, the pigment cells that create these dark spots can grow out of control and become malignant melanoma, a life-threatening cancer.
Moles that need to be checked by a physician are those that appear to be growing larger. That can be hard to track: in a new study in the Archives of Dermatology, researchers kept tabs on 251 people with a total of 1,431 moles. Forty-six of the patients’ moles had enlarged during the follow-up period, but participants in the study identified only 17 moles as having grown. Worse, the patients were wrong on 12 of the 17 moles that they did identify.
The down and dirty on mole recognition is as simple as your ABCDs. A stands for asymmetry. Melanoma typically grows in an irregular, asymmetric fashion, whereas the noncancerous moles tend to be generally symmetric and circular in shape. B stands for border irregularity. Noncancerous growths typically have clearly defined borders that mark the boundary between the mole and skin. A melanoma, however, often has notched or indistinct borders that may signal ongoing growth and the spread of cancer.
Color variation is the C portion of the mnemonic; one of the earliest signs of melanoma might be the appearance of various colors within the mole. Because melanomas arise with those cells that produce the pigment in our skin, they are often varicolored marks of tan, dark brown or black. You might also notice areas of pink, blue or white depending on the structures of the skin that are involved. Last, but equally important, is the letter D, which represents the diameter of the mole. If the diameter across is 6mm or larger (about the size of a pencil eraser), then this should raise some concerns, especially since by the time they reach this size, it’s likely that other abnormalities will also be present.
Monitoring your moles shouldn’t cause you undue alarm. The goal is to arm you with the ability to catch skin cancer early when treatment is less expensive, less invasive and more effective at delivering a cure. So this summer, keep yourself lathered in sunscreen (SPF 30 or higher). And keep an eye on those tiny spots. If they raise any suspicions at all, stay on the safe side and show them to your doctor.
