Melanoma, Skin, Cancer | Nuffield Health

The mole may change in colour, become raised or grow larger and appear irregular.

If diagnosed and treated early, melanoma is curable. Left untreated it can spread to other areas of your body making treatment difficult.

It’s a good idea to check your moles regularly. Using a simple ABCDE checklist you can look for signs of irregularity*:

A       Asymmetry – If you drew a line through the middle of a mole would both halves match?
B   Border – Does the mole have a distinct border (melanomas have jagged borders).
C     Colour – Is the mole one colour?
D       Diameter – Is the mole wider than 6mm across?
E       Evolving – Is the mole changing in size, shape or colour?

A major cause of melanoma is sun exposure. Follow the rules for avoiding sun damaged skin including avoiding the use of sunbeds or sunlamps.

You should seek immediate medical attention if you notice any changes to existing moles or abnormal looking new moles.

Related tests and scans

Excisional biopsy

An excisional biopsy may be done if a needle biopsy can not be used, or if a needle biopsy does not give a definite result.

Fine needle biopsy

A biopsy is a procedure to remove and examine a sample of tissue from a lump or suspicious area of the body.

Image guided aspiration and biopsy

Mole assessment

Over the past 25 years, rates of malignant melanoma in Britain have risen faster than any other common cancer.

Mole mapping

We provide a state of the art computer-assisted mole mapping and digital photo-dermoscopy surveillance service.

Sentinel node biopsy

Your sentinel nodes are a part of your lymph node system - the system that protects your body from infection and disease. Sentinel nodes are the first nodes that may be subject to the spread of cancer of the breast or melanoma (mole cancer).

Related treatments and procedures

Dermatological surgery

Dermatological surgery includes benign (non-cancerous) and malignant (cancerous) surgery of the skin.

Dermatopathology

A dermatopathologist is a specialist in dermatology and pathology. When a dermatologist takes a sample of your skin for analysis and diagnosis, the sample is often examined by a dermatopathologist under a microscope.

Excision of skin lesion

Skin lesions are found on or just below the skin. Examples of skin lesions are epidermoid cysts, lipomata (benign tumour of fatty tissue), skin tags and moles.

Mole removal

Moles are a form of pigmented lesion. Benign (non cancerous) lesions can simply be left alone. However if your mole bothers you in any way your consultant may recommend removal (excision).

Palliative care

Palliative care is a medical and nursing speciality that focus on controlling symptoms and providing support for patients, and their families with any serious illness.

Radiotherapy

Radiotherapy uses high-energy particles or waves, such as X-rays, gamma rays or protons, to destroy or damage cancer cells.

Skin assessment clinic

Our experienced consultants can visually assess skin lesions and (if necessary) scan them using state-of-the-art scanning equipment to analyse and detect even the smallest changes. The procedure is painless, quick and safe.

Skin cancer surgery

There are several types of surgery for skin cancer. In the first instance your consultant may want to perform an excisional biopsy to confirm the cancer and remove it.

Skin surgery

Many of our hospitals offer surgery for benign (non-cancerous) and malignant (cancerous) conditions of the skin.

Vulval lesion excision

Abnormal growths or ulcers in the opening of your vagina (vulva) are called vulval lesions. A vulval lesion excision is the removal of the lesions.

Melanoma