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How Do I Know if I Have Skin Cancer?
By: Fayne Frey, MD
Updated on April 15, 2020
If you find a growth on your skin, how do you know if it’s cancer? You won’t know for sure but a dermatologist will — most skin cancers are curable if found early.
Peggy
I walked into the exam room and noticed Peggy, an overweight blond, blue-eyed, middle-aged Irish woman wrapped in a blue paper gown. She was sweating profusely. After a brief greeting she blurted out, “I think I have skin cancer.”
She felt perfectly fine otherwise. She had no pain or itching. However, Peggy was convinced she was joining the ranks of her older sister, father, and maternal grandfather, all of whom had been diagnosed with some form of skin cancer in the past.
Tina
Later, that same day, Tina, a young brunette Wall Street trader also visited the office with concerns that she had skin cancer. She noticed a new brown colored growth on her right upper leg.
Tina confessed that she had been a tanning bed addict as a teenager. She also said that she loved the sun. Furthermore, she had suffered many a sunburn as a child. In addition, Tina admitted that she never used sunscreen except for the small amount that might have been present in some of her makeup.
