The average age at which melanoma strikes has been dropping dramatically. Ten years ago it was considered unusual to find skin cancer in anyone under 40. This year fully one-fourth of all melanomas will involve people in their 20s and 30s. Tragically, children are the most susceptible, but the problem may not show up for years. If caught early, malignant melanoma is virtually 100 percent curable.
Physicians recommend a monthly skin check for the symptomatic ABCDs of skin cancer.
One half of a mole or skin spot doesn't match the other half. Blue and white may appear. Any mole or spot that grows to more than one-fourth inch, about the size of the end of a pencil eraser. Malignant melanoma is one of three common forms of skin cancer, but not the most common. That distinction belongs to basal cell carcinoma, with about one half million cases reported annually.