Can non-malignant moles become cancerous?

A com­mon mole, also known as a nevus, is a non-malig­nant growth on the skin that appears dur­ing child­hood or ado­les­cence. They are usu­al­ly pink, brown, or tan in colour. They can take many dif­fer­ent forms, includ­ing freck­les, moles, skin tags, and seb­or­rhe­ic keratoses.

Moles run in fam­i­lies. Peo­ple with lighter skin are also prone to hav­ing more moles than dark­er-skinned indi­vid­u­als. Some moles will also light­en or dark­en with time as we age.

Most moles are non-malig­nant, or benign, and we may have them through­out our life­time. But it is a fact that peo­ple with more than 50 moles have a high­er risk of devel­op­ing melanoma. But when spot­ted ear­ly, can be effec­tive­ly treated.

Know­ing how to spot the dif­fer­ence between malig­nant and non-malig­nant moles is cru­cial so you can detect the sus­pi­cious ones ear­ly and take the nec­es­sary mea­sures to pre­vent them from becom­ing a risk to your health.

Atyp­i­cal Moles (Dys­plas­tic Nevi)

Atyp­i­cal moles look like com­mon moles, but they can be larg­er in size and may also have a dif­fer­ent shape or colour. They appear after sun expo­sure on cov­ered areas of the body such as the scalp or but­tocks. Although they may have some fea­tures of melanoma, most atyp­i­cal moles don’t become cancerous.

Con­gen­i­tal Melanocyt­ic Nevi

These kinds of moles are present at birth. The risk of con­gen­i­tal melanocyt­ic nevi becom­ing melanoma is between 0 to 10%. How­ev­er, it is impor­tant to note that those with larg­er con­gen­i­tal nevi are at a high­er risk of devel­op­ing melanoma, espe­cial­ly those found at the back.

They can be removed by surgery to avoid the risk of devel­op­ing into can­cer. Peo­ple with con­gen­i­tal nevi who choose not to remove them should learn how to do month­ly self-exam­i­na­tions or have them­selves reg­u­lar­ly checked by a dermatologist.

Need a Mole Checked?

Doing reg­u­lar skin self-checks are a must, espe­cial­ly for peo­ple who are at high risk for skin can­cer. If you notice any abnor­mal growths or changes to your moles, you need to get it checked right away.

The only way to diag­nose melanoma with absolute cer­tain­ty is to see a doc­tor or vis­it a melanoma detec­tion and sur­veil­lance clin­ic like MoleMap so you can have your skin checked by skin can­cer detec­tion specialists.

Don’t sec­ond-guess your­self. If you’re unsure about a mole in your body or if you notice a mole that may not have been there before, book an online MoleMap appoint­ment in your near­est MoleMap skin cancer clin­ic and get peace of mind.