Can You Have Skin Cancer And Not Know It

Does Skin Cancer Hurt To The Touch

In the case of melanoma, a painless mole may start getting tender, itchy, or painful.

Other skin cancers generally do not hurt to touch until they have advanced to become large. The peculiar absence of pain in a skin sore or a rash often directs the diagnosis toward skin cancer.

When skin cancer has grown considerably, it may ulcerate and cause symptoms, such as pain and discomfort. Skin cancer generally presents as:

• New growth on the skin
• A changing mole or a mole that looks different from others
• A rough or scaly patch on the skin
• A non-healing ulcer or sore or one that keeps coming back
• A mole or spot that has an irregular shape or appearance
• A skin patch or mole with an uneven color
• A brown or black streak under a nail
• A skin patch that itches or bleeds
• A skin patch or growth that is increasing in size

Skin cancer can be detected quite easily since you can see the changes occurring on your skin. Sometimes skin cancer may arise at relatively concealed places, such as inside your mouth, around your genitals, or under a nail. Thus, you must examine yourself thoroughly, preferably in front of a mirror or with the help of your partner, friend, or family member, to look for any signs that may indicate skin cancer.

A Lump In Your Throat

We all get a lump in our throats from time to time, whether we’re re-watching The Notebook or going through a tough breakup. When you have what feels like a permanent one, however, it’s time to get that checked out. Thyroid, esophageal, and throat cancer can all present with a feeling like something is stuck in your throat.

How To Check Yourself For Skin Cancer

The SCF recommends that people conduct skin self-exams at least once a month or more if you have risk factors such as an inherited gene that predisposes toward skin cancer, or if you have spent a lot of time in the sun.

This check, which should be done in a well-lit room with a floor-length mirror and a hand mirror, should not take long once you get the hang of it.

Youll need to examine every inch of your skin, from your scalp to the bottoms of your feet and nails. A self-exam body map can help keep track of whats normal for you and whats not.

The more often you do these self-exams, the more familiar you will be with every freckle, mole, sore, lump, and blemish on your body and the better you will be at recognizing potential trouble in the form of new markings or changes in the size, shape, or color of existing spots.

Overall, heres the bottom line on what you should be looking for, according to the American Academy of Dermatology : a mole or skin lesion that changes in size, shape, or color, as well as spots that itch or bleed. Also watch for a new growth or a sore that doesnt heal.

Knowing your body and all of its unique spots is the first step in knowing what to look for when it comes to early signs and symptoms of skin cancer.

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Learn More About Stages Of Skin Cancer

All stages of skin cancer can be serious. Delaying treatment can cause unwanted complications, and in some cases, death. Fortunately, treatments with high success rates are now available and can help you restore your confidence, balance, and health. Contact Advanced Skin Canser and Dermatology Center in Wolcott, CT to schedule your consultation today. Well be happy to answer all your questions and recommend the best treatment options!

What Do The Early Stages Of Skin Cancer Look Like

People can have stages of skin cancer and yet not feel ill, which makes early treatment and diagnosis a little challenging. But by being aware of the early stages of this disease, you can protect yourself and seek effective treatment right away. Do you have scaly patches, raised growths, or sores that do not heal? Dr. Jurzyk from Advanced Dermatology Center in Wolcott, CT can help you identify and treat all types of cancer of the skin, keeping you from fatal complications.

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How Can I Tell If I Have Skin Cancer

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Skin cancer is actually one of the easiest cancers to find. Thats because skin cancer usually begins where you can see it.

You can get skin cancer anywhere on your skin from your scalp to the bottoms of your feet. Even if the area gets little sun, its possible for skin cancer to develop there.

You can also get skin cancer in places that may surprise you. Skin cancer can begin under a toenail or fingernail, on your genitals, inside your mouth, or on a lip.

Signs That Warrant An Immediate Trip To A Doctor

Some common cancer signs that should result in a visit to the emergency room or to a doctor as soon as possible include:

• coughing up mucus tinged with blood
• blood in stools or urine
• lump in the breast, testicles, under the arm, or anywhere that it didnt exist before
• unexplained but noticeable weight loss
• severe unexplained pain in the head, neck, chest, abdomen, or pelvis

These and other signs and symptoms will be evaluated. Screenings, such as blood and urine tests and imaging tests, will be used if your doctor thinks its appropriate.

These tests are done both to help make a diagnosis as well as rule out various causes of your signs and symptoms.

When seeing a doctor, be prepared to share the following information:

• your personal medical history, including all symptoms you have experienced, as well as when they began
• family history of cancer or other chronic conditions
• list of all medications and supplements you take

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Red Flags For Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Like basal cell cancer, squamous cell cancer tends to develop on parts of the body that get a lot of sun, such as the face, neck, ear, lip, and back of the hands.

It might also appear in scars or skin sores anywhere on the body

While squamous cell carcinoma can look like a flat area closely resembling healthy skin, there may be clearer signs of malignancy, according to the SCF, including:

• Rough or scaly red patches that may bleed or crust
• Raised growths or lumps, sometimes with a depression in the center
• Open sores, possibly with oozing or crusted areas, that dont heal or that go through cycles of healing and bleeding
• Growths that resemble warts

Certain skin conditions may be precursors to squamous cell carcinoma, or even early forms of it:

Melanoma: Tricky To Spot

Melanoma can develop anywhere on the skin but is more likely to start on the chest and back in men and on the legs in women.

Black Americans are significantly less likely to get skin cancer than whites, but when they do develop melanoma, they are more likely to develop it on the palms of the hands, the soles of the feet, or underneath the nails.

Most melanoma cells still produce the pigment melanin, so they are often tan, black, or brown, but they can also contain colors of red, white, and blue, says the American Academy of Dermatology Association .

The most basic way to spot a possible malignancy is to use the ugly duckling approach. Ask yourself whether any spot looks different than all the other ones around it it might be larger and darker, for instance, or it might be a small red mole surrounded by bigger brown moles.

The ABCDE system is another way to assess whether a mole or other spot is worrisome. ABCDE is an acronym, the individual letters of which each stand for a warning sign of melanoma:

• A is for asymmetry. One half does not match the other.
• B is for border. Edges are scalloped or notched.
• C is for color. There are several different shades of brown, tan, or black, or colors like red, blue, or white.
• D is for diameter. The spot is bigger than the eraser on a pencil, about 1/4 inch .
• E is for evolving. There are changes in size, color, shape, or elevation.

Some melanomas dont neatly fit into the ABCDE categories, says the ACS. Other danger signs also include:

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What Is A Biopsy

A proper diagnosis of cancer in the skin is made possible through biopsy. We will remove a skin tissue sample and send it to a laboratory. A pathologist will then examine your samples and look for abnormal cells that could be cancerous. Through a biopsy, you can also get accurate information about the stage of skin cancer you might have.

For advanced melanoma, we request imaging tests and lymph node biopsy to see whether cancer has affected other parts of the body. Additional evaluation is made possible using any or a combination of the following methods:

• Computed tomography
• Measurement of lactate dehydrogenase levels

What Is A Dysplastic Nevus

A dysplastic nevus is a type of mole that looks different from a common mole. A dysplastic nevus may be bigger than a common mole, and its color, surface, and border may be different. It is usually more than 5 millimeters wide . A dysplastic nevus can have a mixture of several colors, from pink to dark brown. Usually, it is flat with a smooth, slightly scaly, or pebbly surface, and it has an irregular edge that may fade into the surrounding skin. Some examples of dysplastic nevi are shown here. More examples are on the What Does a Mole Look Like? page.

Dysplastic Nevi Photos

This dysplastic nevus has a raised area at the center that doctors may call a fried egg appearance.

This dysplastic nevus is more than 5 millimeters in diameter.

This dysplastic nevus is more than 10 millimeters wide .

A dysplastic nevus may occur anywhere on the body, but it is usually seen in areas exposed to the sun, such as on the back. A dysplastic nevus may also appear in areas not exposed to the sun, such as the scalp, breasts, and areas below the waist . Some people have only a couple of dysplastic nevi, but other people have more than 10. People who have dysplastic nevi usually also have an increased number of common moles.

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Skin Cancer Of The Head And Neck Treatment

Many early-stage small basal cell cancers or squamous cell cancers can be removed by Mohs surgery, a technique that spares normal tissue through repeated intraoperative margin testing, removing only the cancer and leaving adjacent normal tissue. Tumors with nerve involvement, lymph node involvement or of a large size are not suitable for Mohs surgery. They require a multimodality approach to treatment, with formal surgical resection and adjuvant radiation or chemotherapy.

Melanoma is more likely to spread, and aggressive surgical resection with wide margins is required, in addition to radiation and/or chemotherapy.

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Learn About The Academy’s Efforts To Refocus Its Brand On Education

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Make An Appointment With A Dermatologist

After you have performed regular skin checks and once you discover a suspicious lesion, you have done your job. Now its time to see a dermatologist, a skin care specialist who can determine the definitive diagnosis. This may require a minor outpatient surgical procedure known as a biopsy. Occasionally, a more significant surgery will be required.

The biopsy specimen will be sent to the pathology lab who can determine whether or not the lesion was a skin cancer and, if it was, what type. Found early, skin cancer, even melanoma, is very treatable.

As for Peggy and Tina, happy to announce, neither were diagnosed with skin cancer.

Squamous Cell Carcinoma Early Stages

The second most common form of cancer in the skin is squamous cell carcinoma. At first, cancer cells appear as flat patches in the skin, often with a rough, scaly, reddish, or brown surface. These abnormal cells slowly grow in sun-exposed areas. Without proper treatment, squamous cell carcinoma can become life-threatening once it has spread and damaged healthy tissue and organs.

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Is Mohs Surgery Right For You

Not all skin cancers need to be treated with a Mohs surgery.

Skin cancers are most common on the head and neck and often treated with Mohs, but those on the trunk and extremities are only treated with Mohs surgery under certain circumstances that your surgeon can determine, Dr. Knackstedt says.

Another kind of skin cancer called melanoma isnt usually treated with Mohs surgery because it is biologically different from basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas, Dr. Knackstedt says.

Mohs surgery, though, is the single most effective technique for completely removing the most common kinds of skin cancer. Because the surgery can be accomplished relatively quickly with instant feedback on the success of removing the cancerous cells, the procedure brings many patients peace of mind Dr. Knackstedt says.

Its a really fabulous way of getting the cancer out and the patient knowing its out, he says.

Who Gets Skin Cancer And Why

Sun exposure is the biggest cause of skin cancer. But it doesn’t explain skin cancers that develop on skin not ordinarily exposed to sunlight. Exposure to environmental hazards, radiation treatment, and even heredity may play a role. Although anyone can get skin cancer, the risk is greatest for people who have:

• Fair skin or light-colored eyes
• An abundance of large and irregularly-shaped moles
• A family history of skin cancer
• A history of excessive sun exposure or blistering sunburns
• Lived at high altitudes or with year-round sunshine
• Received radiation treatments

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What Are The Signs And Symptoms Of Melanoma

Melanoma is a skin cancer that can show up on the skin in many ways. It can look like a:

• Changing mole

• Spot that looks like a new mole, freckle, or age spot, but it looks different from the others on your skin

• Spot that has a jagged border, more than one color, and is growing

• Dome-shaped growth that feels firm and may look like a sore, which may bleed

• Dark-brown or black vertical line beneath a fingernail or toenail

• Band of darker skin around a fingernail or toenail

• Slowly growing patch of thick skin that looks like a scar

Early melanoma

This early melanoma could be mistaken for a mole, so its important to look carefully at the spots on your skin.

Causes Of Skin Cancer

Different forms of skin cancer develop when there are mutations in the DNA of skin cells. Skin cancer begins with a mutation in the epidermis, which is the top layer of the skin. Cells begin to multiply and grow out of control, eventually forming a cancerous mass.

While various risk factors have been identified, it is not always apparent what factor actually causes skin cell DNA to mutate.

One cause of skin cancer that is clear is exposure to sunlight . The ultraviolet rays in sunlight and tanning beds can cause extensive damage to the DNA in skin cells. In turn, these damaged cells may someday become cancerous. Harmful UV radiation can occur relatively soon before the appearance of skin cancer, but it can also pre-date a cancer diagnosis by many years.

However, UV radiation cant explain skin cancers that occur on body parts that arent exposed to the sun. This suggests that different causes exist for certain cases of skin cancer. Among these causes, for instance, may be a drastic or repeated exposure to toxic substances.

In some cases, a person may inherit genes that lead to melanoma. Certain gene changes received from a parent could cause a failure in the body to control unruly cell growth, eventually resulting in melanoma. These inherited, or familial, melanomas are relatively rare.

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