Experts urge Australians to know their skin in lead up to summer

Specialists say that over 90 percent of melanomas can be cured by surgery alone and, if caught early, the majority can be successfully treated.

Head of the Victorian Melanoma Service at The Alfred, Prof Victoria Mar, says self-monitoring is the best way to ensure you are ‘spot safe’ and can make the difference for early detection.

“No one knows your skin like you do,” said Prof Mar. “The simplest approach is to look out for significant change in size, shape or colour, and ‘ugly ducklings’ – those moles that don’t look like the ones around them.

“Other key things to look out for are asymmetry, irregular edges, uneven colour and moles that are larger than 6mm in diameter or that are new and growing. “

If you’re concerned about any of those characteristics, you should then head to your GP.”

Living in a country with one of the highest rates of melanoma in the world, young Australians are particularly at risk, with melanoma remaining the most common cancer nation-wide for people aged 20-39. Early detection remains the best defence.

“If you find a spot early the chance of it progressing or spreading is much lower, and can be reduced to zero, Prof Mar said.

The warnings come as The Alfred community continues to pay tribute to young melanoma patient Morgan Mansell, who lost her life to the disease at the age of 25.

Her father Peter, who established Check for Spots Day in her memory, says staying on top of your skin can save your life.

“Morgan developed a mole on the top of her left ear, which turned out to be a 1.5mm melanoma,” Peter said.

“There’s just no way we would have thought we would lose her within 12 months.”

Learn more about Check for Spots here.