Regularly checking your skin can help catch skin cancer early, when it’s highly treatable. Follow these tips from board-certified dermatologists to check your skin for signs of skin cancer.
Category: Skin Cancer
A type of skin cancer, melanoma is often called the “most serious skin cancer” because it can spread from the skin to other parts of the body.
If your dermatologist finds a spot on your skin that could be any type of skin cancer, your dermatologist will first numb the area and then remove all (or part) of the spot. This procedure can be done during an office visit and is called a skin biopsy.
If you’ve been diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma (BCC), you have plenty of company. Basal cell carcinoma is the most common type of skin cancer. It’s also the most common type of cancer. Doctors diagnose millions of people with basal cell carcinoma every year.
The type of skin cancer a person gets is determined by where the cancer begins. If the cancer begins in skin cells called basal cells, the person has basal cell skin cancer. When cells that give our skin its color become cancerous, melanoma develops.