Signs & Symptoms

Melanoma can initially appear on the body as a new mole. Men most often develop melanoma between the shoulders and hips or on the head and neck; women most often develop melanoma on the arms and legs.

Screening & Diagnosis

Routine examination of the skin increases the chance of detecting skin cancer early. Melanoma starts off as a mole. During your monthly skin self-examination, check for a sudden or continuous change in a mole's appearance. A normal mole is an evenly colored brown, tan or black spot in the skin. Moles can be either flat or raised, round or oval, and have sharply defined borders. In melanoma the mole will change. Most melanomas that appear in the skin can be seen by the naked eye. Usually, there is a lengthy period when melanoma expands beneath the top layer of skin but does not invade the deeper skin layers. This period allows for early detection and full recovery if the tumor is discovered before spreading deeper. A biopsy of suspicious areas is needed to confirm a cancer diagnosis.