Skin cancer can take many different forms and can develop on literally any part of the body — not just where the sun hits.
If you're unsure what a potential skin cancer looks like, here's a quick guide:
- Basal cell carcinomas often look like open sores, red patches, pink growths, shiny bumps or scars.
- Squamous cell carcinomas can also look like open sores, or scaly red patches, elevated growths with a central depression, or warts.
- Melanomas can appear in a variety of colors — black, brown, skin-colored, pink, red, purple, blue or white. Among melanomas, two subtypes are most commonly diagnosed after delay – amelanotic and desmoplastic. These melanomas are less commonly brown or black and more commonly pink, red or flesh colored.
Of course if you're unsure, have a derm take a look.
