Pictures of Benign and Cancerous Growths
Its common to develop growths on your skin as you get older.
Skin growths can either becancerous (malignant) or noncancerous (benign).
This article provides pictures of common skin growths, both malignant and benign.
Illustration by Michela Buttignol for Verywell Health
It discusses what to look for and how they’re treated.
If your skin is prone to freckling, spending time in the sun can cause more freckles to appear.
In some cases, freckles will fade away in the winter and return in the summer.
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In others, freckles will stay put year-round.
Freckles do not need to be treated, unless for cosmetic reasons.
One or two laser therapy sessions are typically enough to fade them away.
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Keloids
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Akeloidis a thick, raised scar sparked by excessive collagen that accumulates at the site of a skin injury.
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They can grow to be large and disfiguring and restrict movement.
They often occur on the face, neck, and upper chest.
Keloids may be:
The cause is unknown.
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They occur more frequently in people with brown or black skin.
To shrink the keloid, a healthcare provider can administer a corticosteroid injection.
Between 50% to 80% of keloids shrink after being injected, although many regrow within five years.
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Complete excision (cutting away the lesion) is the best treatment.
Pressure dressings may help prevent recurrence.
Corticosteroid injections may be used with excision.
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Radiation therapy may be used on recurrent large keloids.
Sometimes a mole can be bluish-black colored, called a blue nevus, which is often mistaken for melanoma.
Some people are born with moles that stay with them throughout their lives.
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But you’re able to also acquire new moles as you age through life.
Your moles may also darken in the sun.
Although most moles are round, they can appear in a range of shapes and sizes.
https://dermnetnz.org/topics/squamous-cell-carcinoma-on-the-face-images/?stage=Live
A dermatologist may excise (cut) the mole from the skin and stitch the area, if necessary.
Or, they may use a special key in of razor to shave the mole away.
They may become irritated or cause pain as a result of cutting off the blood supply.
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If you notice that multiple skin tags are suddenly cropping up, contact your healthcare provider for an evaluation.
Seborrheic keratoses mostly appear in people who are middle-aged or older.
While it’s possible to develop just one of these growths, they typically crop up in multiples.
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Treatment may be needed if the plaques are itchy, irritated, or inflamed.
A biopsy could be ordered if the diagnostician deems the area suspicious.
They do not usually cause any symptoms, but if they compress a nerve, they can be painful.
Jodi Jacobson / Getty Images
They may have a red or blue/black color.
These small growths are smooth and may stick out from the skin.
They are most common after the age of 30 years.
Treatment is not necessary, unless for cosmetic or practical reasons.
They can appear alone or in multiples.
Dermatofibromas do not usually cause any symptoms, but they can be itchy or cause irritation.
Treatment may involve corticosteroids to relieve itchiness, or they may be removed using shave excision or cryotherapy.
They are smooth and may be moist.
Pyogenic granulomas can bleed easily due to the high amount of blood vessels at the site of the growth.
These benign skin growths may develop quickly.
They are most common in children and people who are pregnant.
The sebaceous glands produce sebumyour skin’s natural, oily lubricant.
There are several options for treating sebaceous hyperplasia.
Topical ointments and creams containing retinoids or salicylic acid can reduce bumps.
A dermatologist may also use cryotherapy, electrosurgery, or laser treatments to destroy them.
The punctum is the opening of a hair follicle (which is where they arise from).
Cysts can get very large and become disfiguring.
They can also be multiple.
if the cyst becomes infected, it will hurt and be filled with pus.
This will require incision and drainage.
A ruptured cyst may involve pain and inflammation and may need to be incised and drained.
Other treatments may include corticosteroids (for inflammation) and antibiotics (for infections).
Once the inflammation subsides, excision is usually the mode of treatment.
Pictures of Malignant Skin Growths
Malignant skin growths (neoplasms) are very common.
They often grow and spread uncontrollably and can invade other tissue and organs.
Malignant skin growths can also spread (metastasize) to other parts of the body.
Many malignant skin growths have identifiable precursor conditions.
A precursor is an abnormal group of cells that may turn into cancer.
A precursor can also be referred to as precancerous.
Melanoma
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These commonly appear on the chest and back (in men) and the legs (in women).
A malignant mole usually appears brown or black, but may appear pink, tan, or white.
They may have areas with different colors and may spread quickly.
Depending on how advanced the melanoma is, you may also need chemotherapy and/or radiation.
Squamous cell carcinoma is highly treatable when caught early.
Treatment usually involves surgery to remove the cancerous skin tissues along with some of the surrounding healthy tissues.
Basal Cell Carcinoma
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Basal cell carcinoma is often a result of sun exposure or tanning beds.
This jot down of skin cancer can often be seen on the face.
Treatment for basal cell carcinoma usually involvesMohs surgery.
If the carcinoma is small enough, electrodessication (burning) or excision may be adequate for removing it.
Actinic keratosis is precancerous and can turn into squamous cell skin cancer.
Most cases of actinic keratosis can be treated and cured when caught early.
Treatment may involve cryotherapy, topical chemotherapy, or laser surgery.
How Are Skin Growths Diagnosed?
Many dermatologists will be able to diagnose the skin growth simply by looking at it with their naked eye.
In fact, complete excision will cure almost all cases of skin cancer if performed in the early stages.
Often, a melanoma begins as a mole, but it can also arise from normal skin.
When a diagnostician diagnoses and classifies melanomas, they use a specific method of assessing the abnormalities.
The method is called theABCDEs of melanoma.
Keep in mind that certain skin growths can start out as benign then progress to malignant.
Keep the ABCDEs of melanoma in mind as you check your skin.
The same goes for any person with a family history of skin cancer.
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