If you love spending time in the sun, you need to wear sun screen in order to prevent the development of skin cancer. However, many adults spent years tanning and enjoying the sun without knowing the tole it can take on their bodies. Now, they are paying for it as they develop a variety of different skin cancers. Learning the signs of skin cancer can mean the difference between early detection and treatment, and dealing with a cancer which has spread and is therefore much harder to treat.

Even people who do not know a lot about skin cancer have probably heard about malignant melanoma. This is because skin doctors stress the importance of identifying these fast spreading, deadly tumors. They are called melanomas because they start in moles and areas where melanin, the pigment factor in skin, is present. People with more melanin in their skin often have more of a protection against these tumors but it is no reason to go without sun screen if you will be outside.

With melanoma, you want to check your moles on a regular basis. You should be especially cautious about any moles which are new or which have changed the way they look. Often you want to think ABC when you are looking at your moles. “A” stands for appearance. Any mole that has changed its appearance is worth getting checked out. “B” stands for borders. The borders of a non-cancerous mole should be even and regular. If the mole is uneven or looks like it has rough edges it needs to get checked out. “C” refers to color. Normal moles are a brown color. Any other color should be cause to get a check up.

Do you know someone who has been diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma. It is interesting that while basal cell cancers are the most common, most people do not know what they look like or how common they are. They can look like a number of things including a wart, a raised sore with a sunken, weeping middle or an open wound that will scab over but will not heal permanently. The good news is that through the use of surgery and other treatments it is possible to recover quite well from basal cell carcinoma since they do not tend to spread. The bad news is that they can be quite disfiguring and often form on the face or other visible areas of the body.

The other most common form of skin cancer is squamous cell carcinoma. Like basal cell carcinoma, these also often look like pimples, raised lumps or scars. They also tend to be slower growing and not as likely to spread as a melanoma is. However, with any potential skin cancers it is important to get diagnosed and treated as quickly as possible.

You can expect that if you visit your doctor with a suspected skin cancer, they will inspect the area and test to make sure that it is not cancerous. This usually means taking a sample of the tissue to biopsy it. Once the test results have come back, treatment will begin. The kind of treatment can vary between people and cancers so you can see why an accurate and early diagnosis is as important as possible.

It is unfortunate that many people leave skin cancer diagnosis until it is too late. Skin cancers, especially basal and squamous cell carcinomas are very treatable. Early treatment can reduce the chance of scarring and disfigurement. But no treatment can happen until you are diagnosed so you need to get in to your doctor and get checked over today.

There are different types of skin cancer being aware of the basic five signs of skin cancer is important. Where can I learn more about skin cancer? Please visit www.fivesignsofskincancer.net for more great tips.