Health

10 Signs Your Moles Are Malignant

3. Skin Colored Moles

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If you’ve spent any time on SkinCancer.org, you’re probably familiar with the standard ABCDE melanoma warning signs: asymmetry, border irregularity, color variations, diameter more than 14 inch (6 mm) or dark in color, and evolution or change. But did you know that certain melanomas have quite distinct characteristics? For example, some melanomas may have no pigmentation at all. These are known as “amelanotic” melanomas because they lack melanin, the dark pigment that gives most moles and melanomas their color. These unpigmented melanomas may be pinkish-looking, reddish, purple, normal skin tone or fundamentally clear and colorless. Amelanotic melanoma is a kind of severe skin cancer that lacks the pigment melanin, which gives most melanomas their dark color. As a result, they are distinct from other melanomas.

They may seem skin-colored, pink, or even crimson, with gray or brownish margins instead. Amelanotic melanomas can be readily mistaken with basal or squamous cell carcinomas, or they can be misinterpreted as innocuous scars or moles, which is problematic since they spread quicker than the more commonly detected melanomas. Amelanotic melanomas are rare. According to a 2014 study published in JAMA Dermatology, amelanotic melanomas are uncommon, accounting for around 2% to 20% of all melanomas. Though their appearance makes them more difficult to identify, the causes of amelanotic melanomas are the same as those of more visible melanomas. Most of the time, genetic alterations in mole cells lead them to develop into malignant cells, or melanoma. Malignant moles might be the same color as your skin, as in the case of amelanotic melanoma. If any brown patches are also glassy in persons of color, this might suggest basal cell carcinoma, which appears pink or pearly in those with pale skin.