How can you tell if someone has skin cancer? are there any visible signs of it?

So I’ve an uncle who moved to Hawaii a couple years ago and is exposed to the direct sun at least 8-10 hrs per day. Anyhow, everytime he visits, he just looks tanned or sunburned…but last week, when he came back to Cali, his skin just looked extremely red and not like himself, so I asked if he wears sunscreen everyday, and he stated HE DOES NOT! and he showed me his arm and it seems like he has scabs…(I don't even know how he got those) So I am just wondering if there are any visible sings that show that he does not have healthy skin?

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Answer:
Hello,
rnn
rnnFirst of all, whilst I sympathize with your concern, I think there is very limited scope for you to change your Uncle's health behaviour.
rnn
rnnI agree that he has sun damage to the skin of his arms, however there are many non-cancerous types of sun damage, and he probably has a more common (benign) type of sun damage like 'lentigines' or even 'infected sunburn,' (the scabs).
rnn
rnnJust rolling down his sleeves would be good for these.
rnn
rnnThere are different types of skin cancer, but they may take longer than a couple of years to develop.
rnn
rnnThey’re (1) malignant melanoma, (2) squamous cell cancer, and (3) basal cell cancer also called 'rodent ulcer.' I think your Uncle is most at risk of squamous cell cancer, pronounced 'skway-muss' cell.
rnn
rnnAll these can be diagnosed by looking at the outside of the skin, - - with rare exceptions, there are no 'hidden' skin cancers.
rnn
rnnThere are lots of visible signs of sun damage to the skin, called 'photo-aging,' too many to go into in detail unless you are particularly interested.
rnn
rnnI hope this is of some help.
rnn
rnnIdeal wishes, Belliger (retired uk gp)

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Answer:
well i know some one my boss actually and his ear was bleeding so i told him and when he explained it to me he said he’d a form of skin cancer and the ears was the only place he forgot to put cream and the sun made his ear scab up and bleed, so maybe your uncle could get it checked out at the doctors, also my boss is really tanned he just uses sun cream and cares about sitting in the sun

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Answer:
Heres info:
rnn
rnnhttp://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/…