Key Indicators Of Skin Cancer

Spots With Irregular Borders

Spots on the skin can be a normal occurrence in healthy individuals, but spots with irregular borders can be a sign an individual is being affected by skin cancer. A preexisting mole, scar, or skin lesion may begin to change over time as it becomes malignant and grows into the deeper skin layers. Most skin cancer lesions that grow from spots already present on an individual's skin are melanoma. When malignancy affects the skin, the patches or spots of the growing cancer cells tend to exhibit abnormal borders that are blurred, undefined, ragged, notched, or asymmetric. These cancerous spots on the skin can feature a region that ulcerates, bleeds, or oozes fluid. Ulcerated skin cancer spots may appear to heal over time, but they also always appear to return. These spots have often been described as a colored, raised wart with irregular edges with no symmetry. Melanoma spots and squamous cell carcinomas tend to be larger than harmless moles or spots on the skin, which are typically smaller than the size of a pencil eraser. One of the biggest indicators of skin cancer is when a spot on the skin starts changing in shape, color, and elevation over time.

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