Do you worry that your anxiety over your child developing melanoma might be unrealistic, but you just can’t help obsessively inspecting their moles and imagining the worst? Yes, melanoma occurs in children, even those with Read more...
The ABCDE rules of melanoma screening for adults don’t apply to children. There are distinct differences in the way melanoma appears in kids than it does in adults. Read more…
Basal cell carcinoma is typically described as a nodule or bump that may be pearly in color, but also flesh toned or some range of pink. Purple is a color that may come to mind Read more...
If your nail matrix was sent for biopsy due to a suspicion for subungual melanoma and it came back negative, you can be rest assured that you do not have this disease. Read more...
How possible is it for a dermatologist to spot nail melanoma by just looking at it? This begs the question: Can a doctor exclude melanoma by just looking at the nail? Read more...
Are you wondering if a punch biopsy of a melanoma can cause it to spread – metastasize – to other areas of the body such as the liver, lungs and brain? Read more...
Ever see images of melanoma and wonder why some of the lesions have purple areas? Perhaps you’ve seen photos in which the entire melanoma was purple. Read more…
Has your young daughter come to you asking to have all the dark little moles on her face removed so she could have the “perfect” skin of models? Read more…
Nodular Melanoma If you’re wondering if a skin cyst can ever turn into a melanoma, this is a very fair question. Read more…
Intradermal nevus. Credit: Dr P. Marazzi/Science Source Do you have a mole that sticks up more than the others, or maybe it’s the ONLY one that’s raised, and melanoma has barged into your Read more...
Yes, melanoma can grow in the nail unit, and it’s a well-known fact among dermatologists that this type of melanoma has a poor prognosis. “Nail melanoma, which is in the category of acral lentiginous melanoma Read more...
Tiny melanoma, 1.6 mm. Source: Dermatol Pract Concept. 2013 Apr. Copyright ©2013 Pellizzari et al. Articles and pamphlets refer to melanoma as the “ugly duckling” or “ugly mole.” But how “ugly” or “different” Read more...
A black dot on the top of your toe could be melanoma, but does this mean it’s likely melanoma? Read more…
A baby can be born with a brown pigment “in” a nail. What are the odds that this can be melanoma? Certainly, if your newborn has a pigmented area under a fingernail, this needs to Read more...
A mother of a six year old wanted to know if an elongated mole in her child’s nail could possibly be melanoma. How likely would this just be a harmless mark of pigmentation from birth? Read more...
If you have a severely atypical, irregular or dysplastic mole that’s showing signs of regression (new areas of milky-white color), this is very worrisome for melanoma. A white “spot” in a mole isn’t always cancerous, Read more...
That one particular mole, or maybe several of them, are generating weird feelings. Could this mean melanoma? This isn’t about itching. It’s about weird sensations that seem to be coming from a mole that’s gotten Read more...
A small number of patients will get a local recurrence of melanoma very near to the excision site. Do you know what a local recurrence looks like? Read more…
If you’ve been diagnosed with stage IV or even stage III melanoma, you’ll likely be wondering if you’ll be alive 30 years from now if you’re middle age or younger. “In general, survival rate statistics Read more...
There’s a cancer related reason why you should never self-remove a skin tag. A skin tag is formed in areas where there’s friction such as that from clothing or folds in the skin. Read more...
You’re not neurotic if you’re afraid a melanoma will grow back where one was removed and you keep checking the area – because it CAN. Read more…
MOLE Has your mole always been grey and yellow? Or has it always been kind of grey, and now it has a dull yellow area? What’s alarming about this is if you know Read more...
Subungual melanoma is a type of longitudinal melanonychia, but what are the tipoffs that longitudinal melanonychia is malignant vs. benign? A brown or black band, stripe, streak or line in a nail is a very Read more...
Blue arrows point to Hutchinson’s sign from melanoma shown under magnification. Copyright ©2018 Bhat et al If you know what a Hutchinson’s sign is, perhaps you’re wondering just what is a micro-Hutchinson’s sign Read more...
It’s pretty scary to know that a perfectly normal mole can look like a melanoma, and even more unnerving is that a melanoma may pass as a benign mole. Read more…
Dermatology Practical & Conceptual (April 30, 2014, Rosendahl, et al) Nodular melanoma is a particularly lethal form of cancer that disregards the ABCDE guidelines that are so publicized about melanoma. Delayed diagnosis is Read more...
A normal mole is supposed to be one color, or at least, two shades of a color. But brown and grey are two completely different colors. Is this melanoma? Read more…
Hutchinson’s sign … or pseudo-Hutchinson’s? Credit: Nameer Al-Sudany, MD Are there features about melanoma’s Hutchinson’s sign that are different than those found in pseudo-Hutchinson’s sign – which has causes other than melanoma? Read more...
The appearance of blood under a toenail can closely resemble a melanoma – and vice versa. Here is a comparison of the differences and similarities. Read more…
The term “ugly duckling mole” has a specific meaning when it comes to melanoma, the deadliest skin cancer. Read more…
Actinic keratosis Though most squamous cell carcinomas were once actinic keratoses, most AK’s will not turn into cancer. However, it’s impossible to predict which lesions will eventually begin undergoing a malignant transformation. Read more...
Don’t let the media’s portrayal of skin cancer patients fool you. Blacks and other dark skinned people need to do monthly self-exams because they too can get any of the three major skin cancers: Read more...
Any race can get nail plate cancer. Yes, it’s possible and it happens: A nail melanoma being misdiagnosed as a harmless elongated “birth mark” or benign melanonychia. Read more…
The Hutchinson’s sign is a very tell-tale sign of fingernail or toenail melanoma. Further complicating this issue is that benign pigment in a nail can mimic a true Hutchinson’s sign. Read Read more...
A doctor may describe a melanoma as having “central regression” or as being “centrally regressed.” Though this term seemingly is self-explanatory, it does warrant further explanation to the layperson. Read more…
If you think you have a skin tag, it’s possible it’s a melanoma, and it’s also possible for a doctor to misdiagnose a melanoma as a benign skin tag. Read more…
You just had a melanoma removed and are now seeing new moles or little spots very close to the excision site. Read more…
You probably already know that nail melanoma is often a dark line or stripe under the nail, but it can also be pink or a pinkish flesh color. Read more…
If pimples are supposed to be some shade of pink or flesh colored, then what causes a pimple to be purple? Read more…
Did you know that nail melanoma doesn’t always present as a line, streak, stripe or band? Nail melanoma can also appear as a smudge, smear or blotch. Read more…
