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If you have a spot or sore on your skin that has not healed within 2-4 weeks, and it has two or more of the following features, see your GP:
- The spot is new, and growing in size.
- The spot is red, scaly or hard, and unevenly shaped. It might be painful or itchy, but sometimes there is nothing uncomfortable about the spot.
- You have an open sore that bleeds or is crusty.
- The spot is a crusty lump of over 1cm in size and feels firm when squeezed between your fingers.
An SCC may grow anywhere, but they are most common in parts of the body that have been most exposed to sun:
- the head and face (including the scalp, neck, lips and back of the ears)
- the back of the hands
- in women, on the lower legs
An SCC can also develop in:
- skin with long-term damage. This includes scars, areas of skin that have been burnt (any type of burn), areas of skin that have been ulcerated for a long time, and areas damaged by X-rays.
- the genital area (the external sex organs and anus)
Most changes to the skin are not cancer, but if any symptom lasts longer than 4 weeks, see your GP. Because SCC is quite slow-growing, your GP may be looking for your symptoms to have lasted for 4-8 weeks. However, some skin cancers grow more quickly than SCC, so any suspicious symptoms should be checked out sooner rather than later.
If you would like to see, we have some pictures of different types of skin cancer.
