Skin cancer is the abnormal and uncontrollable growth of cancer cells on the skin. This is one of the most common types of cancer and can occur on any part of your body. The most common types of skin cancer are basal cell cancer, melanoma, and squamous cell carcinoma. Depending on the severity and progression, it can be treated through chemotherapy, surgery, radiation therapy, etc. You will learn about the early signs and diagnosis of skin cancer.

Here are some early signs of skin cancer:
The most common areas for the development of skin cancer are the ones that are exposed to direct sunlight.

Symptoms for basal cell carcinoma

• A waxy or pearly bump on your skin
• A flesh-colored or brown lesion that is flat and scar-like
• A sore that repeatedly heals and returns. These sores often bleed.

Symptoms of squamous cell carcinoma

•   A nodule that is firm and red.
• A flat, scaly and crusted lesion.

Symptoms of melanoma 

• An existing mole that changes in texture, color, or size and/or starts bleeding.
• A large brown spot with dark speckles.
• A lesion that is painful because it itches and burns.
• A small lesion that is surrounded by an irregular border and has portions that are red, white, pink, blue-black, or blue in color.
• Dark lesions that suddenly appear on your soles, palms, fingertips, and/or toes.
• Lesions that make an appearance on your mucus membranes, especially those lining your nose, mouth, anus, or vagina.

Symptoms of less common skin cancers

• Red or purple patches on the skin as a result of a tumor in the blood vessels of the skin. This can be a sign of Kaposi carcinoma.
• Firm shiny nodules that occur in hair follicles or right under the surface of the skin indicates the presence of Merkel cell carcinoma.
• Sebaceous gland carcinoma is an aggressive type of skin cancer that appears in the oil glands in the skin. The symptom that may appear because of this cancer type is a bunch of hard, painless nodules that can develop anywhere. It frequently occurs in the eyelid but is most often overlooked.

Here’s how skin cancer is diagnosed:

• To diagnose skin cancer, your doctor may have to look at your skin and examine the marks and changes in it.
• An additional test may have to be done in order to confirm the presence of skin cancer.
• Sometimes, a skin biopsy is required. Here, the doctor removes a part of the skin that looks suspicious and takes it to the lab for testing. A biopsy can help confirm the presence of skin cancer and determine the type of skin cancer you have if the results are positive.
• If you have skin cancer, additional tests are done to determine the type and stage of cancer to choose a treatment option that is best for your condition.
• These additional tests might include imaging tests (to examine the lymph nodes nearby) and/or the removal of these nodes to test them.