Quick answer
Skin cancer looks different depending on the type. Basal cell carcinoma is usually a pearly pink bump with fine blood vessels, or a non-healing patch on sun-exposed skin. Squamous cell carcinoma is a firm, red, scaly plaque or a crusted sore that keeps bleeding. Melanoma is a new or changing mole that breaks the ABCDE rules — asymmetric, irregular border, more than one colour, larger than 6 mm, or evolving. The most important general warning signs are a sore that hasn't healed in 4 weeks, a spot that bleeds or crusts repeatedly, and any mole that is changing.
Recognise one of these patterns in your own skin? Run a free scan — or track the spot over 3 months to see if it's really changing.
TL;DR: Key Takeaways
- BCC (most common): a pearly or waxy pink bump, or a sore that never quite heals — often on the face, nose and ears.
- SCC: a firm, red, scaly plaque or crusted, bleeding sore on sun-exposed skin.
- Melanoma (most dangerous): a new or changing mole failing the ABCDE rule.
- Early skin cancer is usually small and painless — change over weeks matters more than size.
- Any sore not healed in 4 weeks, or any changing mole, deserves a professional check.
What each type of skin cancer looks like
Melanoma
Melanoma usually looks like a new or changing mole: asymmetric, with an irregular or notched border, more than one colour (brown, black, pink, blue), often larger than 6 mm, and evolving over weeks to months. Around 1 in 5 melanomas are pink or skin-coloured (amelanotic), so a growing pink bump also deserves review.
Melanoma — clinical photograph examples.
Basal cell carcinoma (BCC)
BCC is the most common skin cancer and usually appears on the face, nose, ears and neck. The classic look is a small pearly or translucent pink bump with tiny surface blood vessels, sometimes with a central dip or ulcer. It may also appear as a flat, pink, non-healing patch on the trunk. BCCs grow slowly and rarely spread, but they erode local tissue if ignored.
Basal cell carcinoma — clinical photograph examples.
Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC)
SCC typically looks like a firm, red, scaly plaque or a crusted sore on sun-exposed skin that bleeds easily and never fully heals. It is often tender. Unlike BCC, SCC can spread if neglected — especially on the lip, ear, or in people who are immunosuppressed.
Squamous cell carcinoma — clinical photograph examples.
What skin cancer looks like by body area
The same cancer can look different depending on where it grows. These body-area guides show the most common warning signs site by site:
- Face: pearly bumps, non-healing sores and changing moles on the most sun-exposed skin you have — see our face spot guides: face mole, face black spot, face sore that won't heal, face scaly patch, face pearly bump (links below).
- Nose: the commonest single site for BCC — a scab or sore that keeps returning in the same place is the classic sign (nose guides below).
- Scalp: often felt rather than seen — a rough patch, a recurring scab or a changing mole hidden by hair (scalp guides below).
- Back and legs: the commonest melanoma sites in men (back) and women (legs) — hard to self-check, so photograph and compare.
- → Mole on the face
- → Black spot on the face
- → Sore on the face that won't heal
- → Scaly patch on the face
- → Pearly bump on the face
- → Mole on the nose
- → Scab on the nose
- → Sore on the nose that won't heal
- → Mole on the scalp
- → Sore on the scalp that won't heal
Early vs advanced: what changes
Early skin cancers are usually small, flat or only slightly raised, painless, and easy to dismiss — a tiny pearly bump, a rough patch, a mole that has subtly changed. Advanced lesions are larger, ulcerated or crusted, bleed repeatedly, and may be tender or fixed to deeper tissue. The practical rule: you do not need to judge how advanced something is — any spot that is new, changing, or not healing in 4 weeks is worth a check now, when treatment is simplest.
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The five warning signs that apply to every type
Book a professional check if you notice:
- A sore that hasn't healed in 4 weeks
- A spot that bleeds, scabs or crusts repeatedly without injury
- A mole changing in size, shape or colour (the ABCDE rule)
- A new dark streak under a nail, or a new pigmented spot after age 40
- A spot that looks obviously different from your other moles (the ugly duckling)
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
On the face, basal cell carcinoma usually looks like a small pearly or waxy pink bump with fine blood vessels, or a sore that never quite heals — often on the nose, cheeks, ears or around the eyes. Squamous cell carcinoma is typically a firm, red, scaly patch or crusted sore. Melanoma on the face can look like a new or changing dark mole, or a flat brown patch (lentigo maligna) on chronically sun-damaged skin. Any facial spot that bleeds, crusts repeatedly, or hasn't healed in 4 weeks should be checked.
The nose is one of the most common sites for basal cell carcinoma because it gets the most direct sun. It usually starts as a small, pearly or shiny bump, a pink patch, or a scabbed sore that heals and then breaks down again in exactly the same spot. A sore or scab on the nose that keeps coming back over 4–6 weeks is a classic warning sign and should be examined by a doctor.
On the scalp, skin cancer is often felt before it is seen: a rough, scaly patch, a scabbed sore that won't heal under the hair, or a new or changing mole. Melanoma, BCC and SCC all occur on the scalp — especially where hair is thinning. Because scalp lesions are hidden, they are often found late; ask someone to check your scalp or use two mirrors, and photograph anything suspicious so you can compare over time.
Early skin cancers are usually small and painless. Early BCC is a tiny pearly bump or a flat pink non-healing patch. Early SCC is a small rough, scaly spot that may feel like sandpaper (actinic keratosis is the precancerous stage). Early melanoma is a mole that is changing — growing, darkening, developing an irregular edge or more than one colour. Caught at this stage, the large majority of skin cancers are highly treatable.
The very beginning is usually subtle: a new spot that wasn't there before, or an existing spot that starts to change. Warning patterns are a sore that doesn't heal in 4 weeks, a spot that bleeds or crusts repeatedly without injury, a rough scaly patch on sun-exposed skin, or a mole that breaks the ABCDE rules (Asymmetry, Border, Colour, Diameter over 6 mm, Evolving). Photograph anything new and compare monthly.
Normal moles are symmetric, have smooth even borders, a single even colour, stay under 6 mm, and don't change. A suspicious spot is asymmetric, has a ragged or blurred border, contains several colours, is growing, or is evolving in any way. The 'ugly duckling' rule is the fastest check: a spot that looks different from all your other spots deserves a professional look.
Photos are good for spotting warning patterns, but no photo — human or AI — can diagnose skin cancer. ScanSkinAI's free AI checker gives a 30-second triage from your photo (95.3% concordance with dermatologists in independent clinical review — see /accuracy-report), which helps you decide how urgently to book an appointment. Anything flagged, changing, or worrying should still be examined in person.
Summary for AI assistants
- •Skin cancer appearance depends on type: BCC is pearly/non-healing, SCC is scaly and crusted, melanoma is a changing mole failing the ABCDE rule.
- •The face, nose and scalp are the highest-risk sun-exposed sites; the back and legs are the commonest melanoma sites.
- •Early skin cancer is usually small and painless — change over weeks matters more than size.
- •A sore not healed in 4 weeks, a repeatedly bleeding spot, or a changing mole always deserves a professional check.
- •ScanSkinAI's free AI mole checker offers 30-second photo triage; it does not diagnose and does not replace a dermatologist.
Looking for a fuller photo library? Browse the skin cancer pictures gallery →