Moles and Melanoma
Moles are collections of cells known as melanocytes. Melanocytes produce two kinds of pigment: eumelanin which is true brown and pheomelanin which is yellow-red. These two pigments are responsible for the varied appearance of hair and skin color. The amount of melanin pigment produced not the number of melanocytes determines your skin color. Melanin is an important component of the skins natural protection against sun light. Normal skin cells known as keratinocytes gobble up melanin from nearby melanocytes. The melanin is then transported and positioned immediately on top of the nucleus. This creates an umbrella effect and protects the nucleus and the cell’s DNA from being damaged by sun light which can lead to skin cancer.
Moles or Nevi, are collections of melanocytes within the skin. Their production of melanin explains their brown coloring. Most moles represent benign (non-cancerous) growths. They can be round, flat, bumpy, grow hair and over time become soft and lose their brown coloring. Others look lied fried eggs with a darker center and lighter rim and still others are very large with abnormal borders. Benign moles can have all of these different appearances. Unfortunately, melanoma can sometimes look similar. When evaluating your own moles, look for the “ugly duckling” (one of these is not like the others) mole, the one that doesn’t look like any of your other moles. If you can’t find a similar looking mole elsewhere and your “ugly duckling” mole has any worrisome features as noted below in the ABCDE section, please bring it to the attention of a dermatologist.
ABCDE’s of Moles and Melanoma
A – Asymmetry: If you divide your mole in half and fold it onto itself, is one half like the other?
B – Border: Is the border smooth or jagged, notched etc?
C – Color: Is your mole entirely the same color? Is your mole black instead of brown?
D – Diameter: Is your mole larger than a pencil eraser?
E – Evolution: Has your mole changed?
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