skin cancer

Overview

There are three main types of skin cancer and include basal cell cancer, squamous cell cancer and skin cancer.

You can reduce your risk of developing skin cancer by reducing or avoiding exposure to ultraviolet light. Examining suspicious skin changes may help detect skin cancer in its early stages. Early detection of skin cancer gives you the best chance of a successful treatment.

Care for skin cancer patients at Mayo Clinic

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Species

Melanoma

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma

Basal cell carcinoma

Melanoma skin cancer

Symptoms

Where does skin cancer develop?

Basal cell carcinoma

Basal cell carcinoma Open the pop-up squamous cell carcinoma of the ear and lips

Skin squamous cell carcinoma open the pop-up dialog box melanoma

Melanoma Open the emitted dialog box showing the Merkel cell cancer

Merkel Cell Cancer Open the popup dialog

Skin cancer develops mainly in sun-exposed skin areas, including the scalp, face, lips, ears, neck, chest, arms, hands, and legs in women. But it may also form on areas that rarely see the sun - your palms or under your fingernails, feet or genital area.

Skin cancer can affect humans of all skin colors, including darker people. If people with dark skin develop skin cancer, it often appears in areas that are not usually exposed to sunlight, such as the palm of the hands and the soles of the feet.

The signs and symptoms of squamous cell carcinoma

Squamous cell cancer usually affects areas exposed to sunlight in your body, such as the neck or face.

Squamous cell carcinoma may appear as:

Pearly or waxy bump

A flat, skin-colored lesion, or it may appear as a brown-colored scar

A bleeding ulcer, or crusting healing that returns

Skin signs and symptoms of squamous cell carcinoma of the skin

Most often, squamous cell carcinoma of the skin occurs in sun-exposed areas of the body, such as your face, ears and hands. People with darker skin are more likely to develop squamous cell carcinomas in areas of the body that are often not exposed to sunlight.

Squamous cell carcinoma may appear as follows

Red, solid doctrine

Flat lesion with scaly scaly surface

Signs and symptoms of skin cancer

Skin cancer can occur anywhere in your body, whether in normal skin or in moles that become cancerous. For men, skin cancer often appears on the face or trunk of the body. For women, this type of cancer often appears in the lower legs. For both men and women, skin cancer can occur on skin that has not been exposed to sunlight.

Skin cancer can affect people of any color. For people with darker skin, melanoma tends to occur in the palm of the hand, the sole of the foot, or under the fingernails or toenails.

Signs of skin cancer include

Large brown spot with darker ones

A mole that changes color, size, feeling or bleeding

Small lesion