Booklet: What You Need to Know about Skin Cancer
Update: July 1999

General Information

What is melanoma?

Melanoma is a disease of the skin in which cancer (malignant) cells are found in the cells that color the skin (melanocytes). Melanoma usually occurs in adults, but it may occasionally be found in children and adolescents. The skin protects the body against heat, light, infection, and injury. It is made up of two main layers: the epidermis (the top layer) and dermis (the inner layer). Melanocytes are found in the epidermis and they contain melanin, which gives the skin its color. Melanoma is sometimes called cutaneous melanoma or malignant melanoma.

Melanoma is a more serious type of cancer than the more common skin cancers, basal cell cancer or squamous cell cancer, which begin in the basal or squamous cells of the epidermis. People with basal cell or squamous cell cancer of the skin should refer to the patient information summary for skin cancer.

Melanoma can spread (metastasize) quickly to other parts of the body through the lymph system or through the blood. (Lymph nodes are small, bean-shaped structures that are found throughout the body; they produce and store infection-fighting cells.) A doctor should be seen if a person has any of the following warning signs of melanoma: change in the size, shape, or color of a mole; oozing or bleeding from a mole; or a mole that feels itchy, hard, lumpy, swollen, or tender to the touch. Melanoma can also appear on the body as a new mole. Men most often get melanoma on the trunk (the area of the body between the shoulders and hips) or on the head or neck; women most often get melanoma on the arms and legs.

If there are signs of skin cancer, the doctor will examine the skin carefully. If a mole or pigmented area doesn't look normal, the doctor will cut it out (called local excision) and look at it under the microscope to see if it contains cancer. This is usually done in a doctor's office. It is important that this biopsy is done correctly.

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