{"id":656,"date":"2017-10-26T17:44:13","date_gmt":"2017-10-26T21:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.melanomaeducation.net\/?p=379"},"modified":"2019-07-09T12:42:16","modified_gmt":"2019-07-09T12:42:16","slug":"melanoma-mimics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/melanoma-mimics\/","title":{"rendered":"Melanoma Mimics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Few health-related issues cause greater instantaneous anxiety and fear than suddenly discovering something new and unsightly on our skin. After the initial shock, it\u2019s human nature for most people to immediately start thinking about worst-case scenarios.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, there\u2018s no need to panic or jump to conclusions. The reason is that there are many scary-looking, yet benign, skin growths and blemishes that only mimic the appearance of melanoma. But that determination is not something anyone should ever try to make on his or her own, or through research on popular self-help, diagnostic-focused healthcare websites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Either through visual inspection or biopsy, only a dermatologist is sufficiently trained to distinguish which skin issues may be cancerous and which are not. As time is of the essence with regard to diagnosing melanoma, any suspicious looking changes to the skin should be brought to the attention of a dermatologist as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"> Look at Some<\/strong> <strong>Look-Alikes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To better illustrate the appearance of mimics, we\u2019ll present six photographs of common skin conditions that have been mistaken for melanoma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Solar_Lentigo-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-374\" width=\"161\" height=\"161\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Solar Lentigo<\/strong><br>These are more commonly known as <em>age <\/em>or <em>liver spots<\/em>. They\u2019re benign, caused by sun exposure and primarily seen in older individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Sebborhiec-Keratosis-1-150x150.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-373\" width=\"156\" height=\"156\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Seborrheic Keratosis<\/strong><br>Often found on middle-aged or older adults, they\u2019re benign, develop as black, tan or brown in color and look like they\u2019ve been pasted on. Black seborrheic keratoses may occasionally be a sub-type of melanoma, and have the potential to degenerate into <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.melanomaeducation.net\/squamous-cell-carcinoma\/\"><strong>squamous cell carcinoma<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Blue_Nevus-1-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-377\" width=\"159\" height=\"159\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"clear\"><strong>Blue Nevus<\/strong><br>Benign and, aside from their blue\/black appearance they\u2019re no different from any other ordinary mole, and have no greater potential to turn cancerous.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image clear\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Dermatofibroma-1-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-376\" width=\"157\" height=\"157\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Dermatofibroma<\/strong><br>These benign brown-to-red\/purple growths are often caused by minor injuries, splinters or insect bites. They\u2019re usually found on the arms and legs.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Keratoacanthoma-1-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-375\" width=\"164\" height=\"164\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Keratoacanthoma<\/strong><br>This common skin tumor originates within hair follicles, and is considered to be a low-grade squamous carcinoma.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Pyrogenic-Granuloma-1-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-378\" width=\"156\" height=\"156\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Pyrogenic Granuloma<\/strong><br>This benign blood-containing overgrowth may appear on skin or mucous membranes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>It\u2019s important to remember that even if what\u2019s been discovered is diagnosed as melanoma, if it\u2019s caught and treated early enough this potentially lethal disease has nearly a 100% cure rate. So, if something on your skin doesn\u2019t look right, get it checked out right away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br><strong>*<\/strong>Additional source articles: <em>Melanoma Education Foundation<\/em> <em>(MEF) Fall 2015 newsletter<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To better illustrate the appearance of mimics, we\u2019ll present six photographs of common skin conditions that have been mistaken for melanoma.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[43,45,64],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=656"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":966,"href":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656\/revisions\/966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}