How can doctors tell if a mole is a cancer or just atypical?
Patients are good at detecting changes in their visible moles. Doctors are good at telling which moles are probably normal and which look as if they might be atypical or unusual (or even cancers). To tell if a mole is an early cancer, the doctor will usually need to look at some cells from the mole under a microscope. These cells are obtained after a biopsy, which (depending on the size and location of the mole) usually removes part or the whole of the mole and/or a little tissue around it. Some specialist clinics (eg at Addenbrooke’s Dermatology) have equipment that detects the most atypical (suspicious) moles without the need for biopsy.
