What Are the Symptoms and Signs of Skin Cancer?

It is important for everyone to know what to look for with skin cancer, because the first line of defense is being familiar with your skin and recognizing any changes to it. However, there are several different kinds of skin cancer, each of which has different signs and symptoms.

Basal Cell Carcinoma Symptoms and Signs:
Basal cell carcinoma is one of the most common skin cancers. It is also one of the least dangerous. This type of cancer rarely metastasizes and can usually be removed with out-patient surgery.
Basal cell carcinomas usually form on sun-exposed parts of the body. The can look like shiny or pearly bumps, or form a scar-like lesion.

Squamous Cell Carcinoma Symptoms and Signs
Squamous cell carcinoma is another skin cancer that is rarely dangerous if caught quickly. Like basal cell, it usually forms on parts of the body that are frequently exposed to sun.
Squamous cell carcinoma will take the form of a firm red nodule, or a flat lesion with a crusty surface.

Melanoma Symptoms and Signs
Melanoma is one of the more dangerous skin cancers, which has a tendency to metastasize and spread to other parts of the body quickly. It can form on any area of the body. In men with pale skin it most often forms on the trunk or head, in women with pale skin it most often forms on the lower leg. People with darker skin will usually develop melanoma on the palms of the hands or soles of the feet.
Melanoma can take several forms, including a dark patch of skin with darker spots, a mole that changes it’s appearance or bleeds, a small lesion with irregular borders and strange colored patches, or dark lesions on the palms, soles, or mucus membranes.

It is important to be familiar with the skins appearance, and if any changes occur in moles, birth marks or freckles, or if new irregularities develop, see a dermatologist immediately, they are trained to recognize the symptoms and signs of skin cancer and can tell you if you should be concerned.

What is Metastatic Melanoma?

Metastatic melanoma is medical speak for when melanoma skin cancer has spread to other parts of the body. Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer. It starts in the skin cells that produce melanin, the chemical that gives skin its color. If it isn’t caught early, it spreads through the skin to the lymph nodes. Once in the lymph nodes, it can spread throughout the body.
When melanoma first spreads to the lymph nodes it may be possible to surgically remove the affected lymph nodes to prevent it developing into full metastatic melanoma, but usually by the time it is found in the lymph nodes, it is to late to stop the spread.
Metastatic melanoma is very difficult to treat. It does not respond well to chemotherapy or radiation. Doctors are trying immunotherapy which seems to be at least partly effective. Unfortunately, immunotherapy has some severe side effects so that many patients cannot take high doses. Since the higher the dose, the more effective it is, people who cannot take high doses of immunotherapy will not get the full benefit of the treatment.
At this point, metastatic melanoma cannot be cured. Even the best available treatments will only act to prolong life. Due to how difficult the cancer is to treat, the prognosis is poor, with only 15% of people with metastatic melanoma surviving more than 5 years.
People who have metastatic melanoma may benefit from looking for clinical trials they can join. Clinical trials test new medications that are not yet generally available to see if they will treat the cancer. Sometimes these new medications will have dangerous side effects, or will not be effective. Anyone wanting to take part in a clinical trial should speak with their doctor about what trials may be available and how likely it is to help them.