Melanoma Symptoms

Melanoma is a disease that develops malignant cancer cells in the melanocyte cells of the skin. Melanocytes carry melanin, the pigment that colors your skin, and when they are exposed to sunlight, they make more pigment, causing your skin to tan and darken. These cells are found in the lower epidermis, just before the dermis, the lowest layer of the skin.

When it begins in the skin, the disease is referred to as cutaneous melanoma. Melanoma can also appear in the eye, but the type that appears in the skin is often the more aggressive form.

In men, it is often found in the trunk, the area between the shoulders and hips, and is found on the arms and legs of women. This is an adult disease, but it has been found occasionally in children and adolescents.

One of the most confusing things about melanoma are the risk factors. People tend to assume that if they have one of the risk factors, it means that they have cancer.

This is not always the case, but it is important that you discuss concerns with your doctor, if you meet any of the following risk factors, just to be safe.

Risk Factors

Unusual or irregular moles, which are darkly pigmented areas that are usually flat or slightly raised.

Regular exposure to natural sunlight or artificial light, like that in a tanning booth.

Family or personal history of melanoma.

White and older than 20, with red or blond hair, light skin and freckles, with blue eyes.

Melanoma Symptoms

The symptoms we will list here may also be symptoms of other conditions, so if you have any or all of the following, be sure to consult with your doctor immediately.

A mole that has irregular edges and borders that is not a pre-existing mole, that you do not remember having before noticing it. A normal mole has rounded edges, a small circle.

Moles that have more than one color: on the average person, a mole or birthmark may be only slightly darker than their natural skin tone, and may range up to two shades darker than their natural skin tone.

If you have a mole that visibly has more than one color in it, like two shades of the same color, you may want to get it examined.

Asymmetrical moles: this means that if you were to bisect that mole with an imaginary line, the two halves would not match. The halves would be of different sizes and shapes.

Itching: a mole that itches, oozes, bleeds, ulcerated. A hole will form in the skin as the top layer of skin cells in the mole break down, and you can see the underlying layer beneath it.

Changes in pigmented skin: this is not the mole itself, but the skin around it. If the skin color around a mole has a significant change in it, unlike a tan or the fading of a tan, or if new moles develop around an old one. Not to be confused with freckles.

Melanoma symptoms may seem similar to symptoms of other conditions, so if you have any of these symptoms be sure to consult with your doctor.