Recent

Fisherman with sun protection and hat

Where Can Melanoma Be Hiding on My Body?

By

When check­ing your skin for melanoma, per­haps you think of the dark mole on your back or the asym­met­ri­cal freck­le on your chest. By assess­ing sus­pi­cious spots on your skin, you’re tak­ing the first step to melanoma pre­ven­tion and ear­ly detec­tion. Whether you’re using the Ugly Duck­ling method or the ABC’s tech­nique, it is impor­tant that you and your der­ma­tol­o­gist per­form a thor­ough skin exam­i­na­tion, includ­ing places that might not nor­mal­ly come to mind.

Melanoma: Learn Your ABC's of Skin Health

What is Melanoma?

  • Melanoma is a can­cer of the melanocytes, which are the pig­ment pro­duc­ing cells of the skin.
  • It most com­mon­ly occurs on the skin; how­ev­er, may also be found in the eyes, ears, GI tract, cen­tral ner­vous sys­tem and in the oral and gen­i­tal mucous membranes.
  • Melanoma is the most com­mon can­cer in women aged 25 – 29 years and is sec­ond only to breast can­cer in women aged 30 – 34 years.
  • This can­cer is more like­ly to occur on areas that are less often exposed and more fre­quent­ly burned, such as the backs of men and the legs of women.
  • It can be fatal if it is neglect­ed; there­fore, ear­ly detec­tion and prompt removal of melanoma can save a life.