Skin Cancer Screening

Have regular skin exams. Consult your doctor for a complete skin exam every year if you're older than 40, or more often if you're at high risk of developing skin cancer

Each year more than a million people in the United States are diagnosed with the most common forms of skin cancer — basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma — which together are known as non-melanoma skin cancers. Fortunately there are ways to detect most non-melanoma skin cancers early, when they are curable.

Melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer, is not as common as the other two major types of skin cancer, accounting for approximately 62,000 new cases in the US in 2005. Because malignant melanoma can be deadly, and because the number of new melanoma cases has been steadily increasing over the past several decades, early detection and treatment of the disease is very important.

In addition to annual exams by a physician, self-examination can be an effective screen for skin cancers or precancers.

To detect melanomas or other skin cancers, use the A-B-C-D-E skin self-examination guide, adapted from the American Academy of Dermatology:

• A is for asymmetrical shape. Look for moles with irregular shapes, such as two very different-looking halves.

• B is for irregular border. Look for moles with irregular, notched or scalloped borders — the characteristics of melanomas.

• C is for changes in color. Look for growths that have many colors or an uneven distribution of color.

• D is for diameter. Look for growths that are larger than about 1/4 inch (about 6 millimeters).

• E is for evolving. Look for changes over time, such as a mole that grows in size or that changes color or shape. Moles may also evolve to develop new signs and symptoms, such as new itchiness or bleeding.  

» Learn more about skin cancer

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For more information or to make an appointment please call
1-877-233-WELL (9355).