Most moles are harmless, but some can be cancerous, so it’s important to monitor them. A skin cancer screening specialist explains what to look for

Most people have moles and everyone is susceptible to getting a skin cancer, which could either be melanoma or non-melanoma. While melanomas can be fatal, both forms are completely treatable if you catch them early by checking regularly and take preventative action.

People should check their skin every three to four months. The most thorough way to do that is to get whole-body photography once a year from the age of 18. You should check against that to see if there are any new moles or if any of them have changed. This could mean asymmetry, an irregular border or colour, a change in size or just growing in general. It is completely normal to get new moles, but our moles are individual to our selves, and should all look similar. If you find one that does not conform to that, it could be melanoma – and that’s when you need to see your GP or a skin specialist.

For prevention, use your common sense: don’t go out in the midday sun, wear sunglasses, cover up and use factor-30 suncream with five UVA stars. There’s nothing we can do with skin damage that’s already done since skin cancers can sometimes come out decades later. Non-melanoma skin cancer is pink and doesn’t look like a mole – it’s a non-healing lesion. Lots of people miss these since they only appear on sun-exposed areas. If they appear and don’t go away within a month or so, you should get them checked, too.

Some NHS providers can do a mole-map if you have a family history of skin cancers. You can also try to take photographs at home yourself to give you an idea of where everything is.

Claire Crilly, lead nurse at the Mole Clinic, London, was speaking to Ammar Kalia