Skin cancer is basically of two types, non- melanoma and Melanoma.

What is Melanoma? Melanoma is a type of skin cancer which arises from the cells producing pigment called as melanocytes. Pigment called melanin which gives our skin its colour and which protects us from sunlight is produced from melanocytes.

Non Melanoma skin cancer: Mostly skin cancers are of non- melanomatic. Normally skin cancers are caused due to the exposure to harmful UV rays. These types of cancer are also easily curable.

Melanoma skin cancer Symptoms: The initial signs of melanoma skin cancer are any kind of change in size, shape or colour of a mole or a birthmark on a person.s body. It can grow any where in the body. Some portion of the skin might appear different. A mole on the body might look thick. There also might be irritation around the mole or itching. Gradually the mole might swell and it could bleed and pain. There might also be a small lump, rough patches or sores. The size of the mole affected by skin cancer looks bigger in size. There is also a change in shape and colour.

Non Melanoma Skin cancer Symptoms: There are two types of skin cancer under Non Melanoma. They are: Basal cell cancers and squamous cell cancers.

1. Symptoms of Basal cell cancers: This cancer affects those who are highly exposed to the sun. It grows slowly over a period of time. They are usually found on head, neck and shoulders. They develop in the deepest layers of the skin. The common symptoms of this skin cancer are there are changes in the colour of the skin. There are red coloured spots that bleed. A small bump is formed which is fleshy, smooth or shiny. It itches and then bleeds. Also it might take several days to heal. Again, the size and colour keeps changing. There might a small depression in the centre of the mole. It is easily curable and does not spread to the other parts of the body.
2. Symptoms of Squamous cell cancer: They generate in the upper layer of the skin. The symptoms of this type of cancer are, it easily spreads to the deeper layers and also affects the other organs and tissues in the body up to the blood vessels if not timely treated. People who have a great deal of exposure to sun, almost chronical are more likely to get affected with this type of cancer. The face, lip, neck, forearms are affected. The skin that is highly exposed to the sun gets affected by a bump which looks firm and red. A patch of skin which is affected looks like a scaly crust, grows in size and ultimately turns into a sore or ulcer. Normally they are black, red and brown coloured with a scale or crust. Although they grow slowly they cannot be spotted easily sometimes. They are quite aggressive as compared to the symptoms of basal cell cancers. The symptoms also include pain, sometimes and heal slowly. The tumor might bleed easily if scratched.