Are you showing any one of these common signs or symptoms of suspected skin cancer?
Moles or patches of normal skin that change in size, shape or colour over weeks or months in adult life should be investigated. There are some clear signs that a mole could be suspicious of cancer. You should get medical advice if you have a mole showing any of the following symptoms:
- Changing shape, particularly getting an irregular outline
- Changing colour, getting darker, becoming patchy or multi-shaded
- An existing mole getting bigger or a new mole growing quickly
- If a mole starts to itch or becomes painful
- If a mole is bleeding, becoming crusty and/or looks inflamed
What do you do next?
If you are concerned that you are showing signs of suspected skin cancer, then we will ask you to attend a 25-minute appointment with a skin cancer specialist nurse who will cover the following:
- The skin cancer specialist nurse will access your moles/skin changes of concern using dermoscopy.
- Your medical history will be taken by the nurse and the moles/skin changes assessed.
- Clinical and dermascopic images of the moles/skin changes will be taken and uploaded onto our system for telemedicine reporting by our consultant plastic surgeons.
- Results will be available within five days of your appointment.
If any moles/skin changes of concern have been clinically indicated by our consultant plastic surgeons after your initial appointment with the skin cancer specialist nurse, then you will be referred for a face-to-face appointment with one of our consultant plastic surgeons for possible biopsy/treatment.
