How to Spot Skin Cancer

Use this guide to check your moles and marks.

- ALISA HRUSTIC AND BRITTANY RISHER ENGLERT

While you can’t really call anything about cancer good, with skin cancer there's one plus: You can often detect it yourself. And the earlier you find a potential problem, the sooner you can get a test and seek treatment. That’s incredibly important: Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States, with more cases of it diagnosed every year than of all other cancers combined.

Before getting into the details, know this: Any outlier or one-off spot that doesn’t look or act like other spots on your skin is worth getting checked out, especially if it’s new or growing,” says Saira J. George, M.D., an associate professor of dermatology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

The Skin Cancer Foundation recommends doing a self-examination once a month. Don't rush through this! Do it when you have time to examine your skin from head to toe. Use mirrors to check your back and other hard-tosee places, or ask a partner or a family member to help.

Bring any concerns to a dermatologist right away, but also schedule a skin check at least once a year. Your doctor will look in areas you may not, like your scalp and nails,” says Ife J. Rodney, M.D., founding director of Eternal Dermatology Aesthetics in Columbia, MD. They also use tools, such as a dermatoscope, to get a closer look at moles so they can find specific features they’ve been trained to detect.”

Here are the types of skin cancer and how to check for them at home.

BASAL CELL CARCINOMA