Signs and symptoms of skin cancer

This information is about symptoms of the common types of skin cancer, called basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) and squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) of the skin. 

BCCs and SCCs both can vary in how they look. They are usually painless and grow slowly. But sometimes they may grow quickly. They can appear anywhere on your body.

SCCs usually develop in areas that have been damaged by sun exposure.

In people with pale skin, they are mainly found on the face and neck, bald scalps, shoulders and arms, back of hands and lower legs.

In people with darker or black skin, SCCs are more likely to affect areas that have less, or no direct sun exposure. These include the lower legs, torso, genitals and areas where there has been long-term scarring – for example, after a burn to the area.

SCCs may:

• look scaly
• have a hard, crusty scab
• look pink or red
• have a raised area of skin
• feel tender to touch
• bleed sometimes.

We want everyone affected by cancer to feel our information is written for them.

We want our information to be as clear as possible. To do this, we try to:

• use plain English
• explain medical words
• use short sentences
• use illustrations to explain text
• structure the information clearly
• make sure important points are clear.

We use gender-inclusive language and talk to our readers as ‘you’ so that everyone feels included. Where clinically necessary we use the terms ‘men’ and ‘women’ or ‘male’ and ‘female’. For example, we do so when talking about parts of the body or mentioning statistics or research about who is affected.

You can read more about how we produce our information here.