Melanoma skin cancer is a much more serious form of cancer, but
most of it also is diagnosed at an early stage when it is easier
to treat. Dr. Pandelidis says, "Usually melanomas are not
subtle. Its usually an ugly-looking mole and people just have a
hunch that they should get it looked at. To recognize a mole
that may be a melanoma, I always like to remember the ABCD's --
A for asymmetry, B for border irregularity, C for different
colors like black and blue, and D diameter, greater than six
millimeters which is about the size of a pencil eraser." (See
photo below for examples of melanoma on the left vs. healthy-
looking moles on the right) He emphasizes that its easy for any
well-trained family physician to remove a mole and send it to a
pathologist to find out what it is. "If you don't like the way
something looks, you go see your doctor, you say 'I'm worried
about this,' and the doctor will look it over, and if there's
cause for worry, he or she should remove it." Unlike basal cell
and squamous cell cancer