Skin cancer signifies an abnormal development of skin cells. Cancer primarily appears in the areas that are frequently exposed to the sun’s harmful UV rays. However, in some cases, cancer develops even in areas that aren’t exposed to the sun. Here, we’ll discuss a few early signs and diagnosis of skin cancer.

Signs
It is important to know that not every skin cancer is identical. Some may cause symptoms, while others might not show any indications. However, any unusual change on the skin’s surface could be a warning alert for skin cancer. If you are aware of the signs and undergo a quick diagnosis, treating skin cancer becomes easier.

Some common symptoms include:

• Skin lesions
  Skin lesions include any unusual growth, mole, bump, scaly patch, or a dark spot, which doesn’t seem to go away for a long while.
• Asymmetry
  At times, you’ll notice an asymmetry, meaning non-uniformity in both the halves of your mole or lesion. It could also be a symptom of skin cancer.
• Border
  Further, the moles or lesions have uneven edges and look tattered.
• Color
  The moles or spots, which might be cancerous, tend to have an unusual color and might look seemingly different from your regular moles. At times, they might be red, white, blue, pink, or black.
• Diameter
  Usually, the diameter of the cancerous spot or the mole is more than 6 mm.
• Evolving
  Lastly, the cancerous moles are always evolving, meaning they constantly change their shape, size, or color.

If you closely observe your skin frequently and be alert of the changes, it shouldn’t be hard for you to detect the early signs of skin cancer.

Diagnosis
For the diagnosis of skin cancer, the doctor will perform:

Physical examination of the skin
Firstly, the doctor will take a thorough look at the skin to look for any changes, which might be similar to the symptoms of skin cancer. If any signs are found, the doctor will perform additional tests to confirm the presence of skin cancer.

Skin biopsy
In skin biopsy, the doctor will take out a sample from the skin, which looks suspicious and send it for lab testing. From the lab test, it will be easier to determine if it is skin cancer or not. Further, a lab test also helps the doctor find out the type or form of skin cancer.

Tests for determining the stage or extent of spread
After the confirmation of skin cancer and its type, additional tests will be performed to affirm the stage of skin cancer. However, since skin cancers like basal cell skin cancer do not spread. A biopsy is enough to analyze the stage of skin cancer. On the other hand, if it is squamous cell skin cancer, additional tests will be needed. In this case, imaging tests will be performed to check the lymph nodes in proximity.

If you are aware of early signs of skin cancer, treating it becomes a lot easier.