By Rachel Nania, AARP, April 2024
The dangerous skin cancer can take on odd forms and show up in unexpected places. Roughly 100,640 Americans will be diagnosed with melanoma this year, according to the American Cancer Society, making it one of the most common types of cancer in the U.S., especially among older adults who have endured decades of sun exposure and whose immune systems aren’t as robust as they once were.
The good news: Melanoma is highly curable if it’s caught early. Do you know what to look for?
The hallmarks of melanoma are asymmetrical or rough-looking moles without clearly defined borders. A spot on the skin that continues to grow in size or change is another indication, and a once-monthly body scan is an easy way to keep tabs on any of these concerning characteristics.
But there are also some more unusual signs that could signal the presence of the skin cancer.
“Melanoma is such a rule breaker,” says Elizabeth Buchbinder, M.D., an oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. Little moles can cause big trouble, and new spots can grow and spread quickly, she adds. “And so knowing what to look out for is super important.”
Here are four warning signs of melanoma you need to know about so that no spot goes unnoticed.
1. The ‘ugly duckling’
People who have lots of moles are at increased risk for melanoma. That doesn’t mean, however, that you need to panic over every mark on your body. Pay attention to the moles that stand out — those that are darker than the rest, have changed recently or are more oddly shaped. Buchbinder calls these “ugly ducklings.”
“If you have a bunch of dark moles, but you have 50 of them, they’re not all melanomas,” she says. “But if you have one mole that really looks different than the others, and it’s kind of that ugly duckling, that’s the one that you really want to get looked at and checked.”
With women, melanomas most commonly appear on the arms and legs. Men need to pay special attention to their head, neck, back and trunk. Still, those aren’t the only places this type of skin cancer can pop up.
2. ‘Where the sun doesn’t shine’
The majority of melanomas are thought to be caused by ultraviolet (UV) light, but not all of them come from sun exposure. Melanoma can develop anywhere on the body, including “in places the sun doesn’t shine,” like the soles of the feet or the palms of the hand, says Elizabeth Quigley, M.D., a dermatologist and associate physician at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
The cancer can also appear as a dark streak under a fingernail or toenail, which is what happened to musician Bob Marley. He initially mistook his melanoma for a bruise on the toe and eventually died from it. (A clue that you should see a doctor: If you discover a dark spot under the nail bed that doesn’t grow out with the nail over time, like a blood blister would, Buchbinder says it’s time to make an appointment.)
And while it’s rarer, melanoma also can develop on the eye, inside the mouth or on the scalp. Buchbinder has even seen patients experience changes in their hair color — “someone who had gray hair and developed a black streak” — because of a melanoma growing on the scalp. “So, strange things can happen, but these aren’t common ones,” she adds.
That said, these “hidden” melanomas are more common in people with darker skin, points out Vishal Patel, M.D., associate professor of dermatology at the George Washington School of Medicine & Health Sciences and director of the cutaneous oncology program at the GW Cancer Center.
“I tell Black and Indian and Asian patients that if you have nail changes, [any dark spots] on your palms and soles, as well as in the eye and mouth, these are ones that I worry about,” Patel says. “Because while it is less common to have that, when it does happen, it is worse. So, it’s important to know about that.”
Melanoma is 20 times more common in white individuals than in Black individuals, according to the American Cancer Society. Hispanics are also less likely than their white peers to get the skin cancer.
However, when melanoma develops in people of color, it’s often diagnosed at a later, more dangerous stage. A 2019 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that the five-year melanoma survival rate among non-Hispanic Black populations was 66.2 percent, compared with 90.1 percent for non-Hispanic white populations.
3. Red, white and blue hues
Melanomas are often depicted as dark-brown moles, but they can actually present in a variety of colors. The cancer may have a blue tint to it, from deeper pigmentation, says Robert Brodell, M.D., chair of the Department of Dermatology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Or it can appear red, the result of an immune response. “The body is attacking it. It knows it’s abnormal and it’s trying to defend itself, and you get inflammation,” Brodell explains.
It’s also possible for a melanoma to “look like a rash,” Quigley says, and to take on a pink hue. But when the spot doesn’t get better with creams and other treatments that normally nix a rash, “you need to check and make sure that that’s not a skin cancer,” she adds.
Another sign of a melanoma can be lack of color. Some of these cancerous spots lose their pigmentation completely or partially, leaving a halo of white around a darker spot.
“And that’s something that gives us a little concern,” Buchbinder says. “Was the body recognizing something like a melanoma that was going wrong, and in its process of destroying the melanoma, it destroyed some of the normal melanocytes [cells in the skin that produce pigment] in that area? It’s just one of those things that may kind of make you look a little closer at something.”
4. Spots on the skin that bleed or itch
If a mole on your body starts to itch or becomes more painful or tender, you need to get it checked out. The same goes if the surface of a mole changes — maybe it starts to ooze or bleed or take on a scalier appearance and doesn’t heal on its own.
“We think that some of that irritation — the itching, the bleeding — is actually the body starting to recognize [the cancer] and starting to attack it a little, making it irritated. That’s why you’ll see some itching and bleeding and irritation near the actual mole,” Buchbinder says.
Risk Factors for Skin Cancer
Do you know your skin cancer risk? According to the CDC, the most common risk factors include:
A lighter natural skin color
Skin that burns, freckles, reddens easily or becomes painful in the sun
Blue or green eyes
Blond or red hair
A large number of moles
A family history of skin cancer
A personal history of skin cancer
Older age
Skin cancer prevention
Wearing sun-protective clothing, sporting UV-blocking sunglasses and lathering on sunscreen are some of the most effective ways to prevent melanoma.
Another thing to keep in mind: People on certain blood pressure medications — including diuretics such as hydrochlorothiazide and calcium channel blockers such as nifedipine — need to be extra cautious when spending time outside. “Many of those [blood pressure] medicines make us more sensitive to the sun and more likely to get a sunburn,” Quigley says, which amplifies the risk of skin cancer.
Not all skin cancers are caused by sun exposure, so frequent skin checks are an important part of prevention, too. Catching a melanoma before it has time to grow in thickness and spread to other areas of the body greatly improves your chances of survival. (You can find tips on how to do a self-exam on the American Cancer Society’s website.) Keeping your immune system as strong as possible can also help prevent melanoma.
The bottom line: “People need to really be aware of their skin,” Quigley says. “And if there’s anything that seems abnormal, it’s not the time to wait — it needs to be evaluated.”
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