Symptoms of melanoma other than a mole
Source: Roswell Park, May 2024
Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer. It begins in the cells that produce melanin (called melanocytes) and control your skin pigment. Robert Nestor “Bob” Marley, the famous Jamaican pioneer of reggae music, died in 1981, at the age of 36, from a melanoma that began four years earlier under his big toenail and metastasized. (The first doctor Marley consulted told him the lesion resulted from a soccer injury.)
“Although most people think all melanomas start in moles, in reality, less than a third of all melanomas begin in an existing mole, and most of these cancers start in previously normal skin. However, as in the case of Bob Marley, melanoma can also begin in places other than the surface of the skin,” says Gyorgy Paragh, MD, PhD, Chair of the Department of Dermatology at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Moles are a common type of skin growth caused by aberrant clusters of melanocytes. Most people have 10 to 45 moles that appear during childhood and adolescence and may change in appearance or fade over time. However, most are harmless, especially if they are small, and usually don’t become cancerous. Many people know how to recognize a mole that may signal cancerous growth, but an abnormal mole is not the only symptom to be aware of when it comes to melanoma.