› Forums › Cutaneous Melanoma Community › Atypical mole concerns
- This topic has 6 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 7 years ago by
MaggieT.
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- June 7, 2018 at 8:18 pm
I have quite a few moles on my body, started going to the derm for yearly visits 3 years ago. I had my yearly visit a couple weeks ago and we did some biopsies…2 came back as moderately atypical.
This brings me to a total of 5 moderates and 9 milds…what I hate is that all my milds looked worse than my moderates, and even then they don't really look all that unusual, in fact a lot of people would probably look at them and think they look like a normal mole.
I've learned that, for me, I need to keep an eye out for change since some of my moles look fairly normal like I said…so I make sure to be on top of that. I'm only 30 years old with 3 small kids, and I almost fear I am doomed for melanoma since I have 5 moderates now and fear that with the ways my moles look that a severely atypical or melanoma wouldn't stand out.
Do I have valid concerns here? Or am I over thinking it too much? I try to be vigilant and not think about it all the time, but sometimes that's hard when I think about my 3 kids and not being able to be there for them should I develop one and the worst happen…
Thanks for reading.
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- June 7, 2018 at 8:42 pm
Hi Maggie T! First off, I just want to try to reassure you that atypical moles happen and I think diligence with the dermatologist is the best way to stay on top of them. The odds are absolutely in your favor! Most atypical moles and even those that are melanoma, just need to be removed. I have had literally dozens of atypical moles removed and nothing more ever came of them…the margins were clear, I had wider excisions done to be safe and that was it.
I have progressed but that was not due to an atypical mole, it was from an actual Melanoma.
If you think it would help, maybe you could request more regular dermatologist appointments. I go every 3 months but I’ve had Melanoma since I was 8 so my story is extreme and you may just want to go every 6 months, or something like that.
Another option would be to do one of those full-body mole mappings, that will give you a better idea of what all your moles look like right now so you can monitor them more closely on a regular basis and compare them yourself (I try to do this once a month).
Please try not to stress yourself out too much, wear sunscreen, watch your moles, visit the dermatologist and feel confident that you are taking all of the right steps!
Wishing you mole-regularity and continued good health!
Amanda
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- June 8, 2018 at 3:13 am
So is your derm just removing anything or just the changing ones? Atypical moles that are stable aren't going to be a problem. And honestly, you haven't had any severely atypical moles and those are the ones most concerning. I don't give mild atypicals a second thought and moderates not much more. A recent study just came out that said that 75% of melanomas arise on NEW moles, not existing. So watch your existing moles for change, and watch for any new and different moles. I don't think you are doomed for melanoma at all. You are vigilant and if something really was the "ugly duckling", you would notice it long before it was really a problem. You're on top of the game. And even if you did happen to have one mole become melanoma, most likely you would catch it early. I've had 3 melanomas, the first in 1992. I'm still here and stage I. 26 years. I think you are imagining the worst when the reality is a lot more positive.
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- June 8, 2018 at 6:42 am
Thank you for your reply. My derm biopsies anything that he doesn't like the look of or if I've pointed out one that has changed. I guess where my biggest concern really lies it not necessarily one of my moles changing to melanoma (as you've pointed out most come from a new mole), but actually developing a melanoma one day as a new mole because I've had a handful of moderately atypical moles. I know I'm at higher risk simply because I have quite a bit of moles and have atypical ones too. Is the risk really that much higher? Will melanoma always be an ugly duckling? Because as I mentioned, a bunch of my atypical moles looked "normal/ok" while "funky" ones have come back as a common mole :/
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- June 8, 2018 at 1:52 pm
That is why I rely on CHANGE instead of outward appearance as my #1 factor. Anything stable, I leave alone. Anything changing or new and different – I remove. I know I have atypical moles on me if they were biopsied, but as long as they are stable, I don't care. I've had changing lesions removed that weren't melanoma. I've had new and different lesions removed that weren't melanoma. But these are the highest risk lesions so I remove them to know for certain.
Is your risk higher? Yes, it's higher than those with few or no atypical moles. But it's hard to quantify the risk exactly. Because none of your lesions removed so far have been severely atypical, I'd take that as a positive sign. There are some with dysplastic nevus syndrome who only have severely atypical moles or early melanomas.
For my 3 primaries, they have all stood out in some fashion. The first was typical for melanoma – had the abcd characteristics. The 2nd stood out as a mole I had had for a few years that was very orange. One day this orange mole developed a tiny spot in the center. At that time I knew little about melanoma, my first primary was found in the dark ages before the internet and there was little information available. I didn't even know that I could get another one. But the dot just raised my anxiety level so I had it removed. Both the orange and the dot were unusual – I had nothing like them at all on my body. This was melanoma in situ. My third was more normal looking but very dark. On my back but I knew it hadn't always been there and I had no knowledge of when it showed up. This was there at the time of my 2nd melanoma but only after I knew I could have more did I have this one removed.
So I really think that knowing your own body is key. For me, my 2nd and 3rd ones wouldn't have raised major concerns on some people, but they were different "for me". They both stood out in a fashion that raised my concerns. My other atypical moles don't necessarily look alike, but they all have similar characteristics. Maybe a little atypical shape or color but you wouldn't necessarily look at one and say "wow, that is different from everything else on my body". That's how I manage and it has work for me so far.
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- June 8, 2018 at 5:34 pm
Thank you again for your reply 🙂 I guess for now I will continue to be on top of things and try not to think about it all the time…would be a waste of good energy as they say. Thank you too for sharing part of your story. You seem to be very knowledgeable in all of this…would it be alright if I asked your opinion on something else? Maybe your derm has said something or you read something informative about it…
I will discuss with my derm for his reasoning as well, but im curious about pigment regrowth in biopsies that came back mildly atypical. My derm thinks it is ok to leave pigment regrowth alone in those ones as long as they don't look "odd" or grow back outside of the scar. Everything I read online seems to be on the side of removing any pigment regrowth, even if was only mildly atypical. We do remove everything in my moderates once the biopsy results come back so I don't have to worry about pigment regrowth in those, but I have three milds with a little bit of pigment regrowth.
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