Your GP pauses at one spot during your skin check and takes a closer look. What happens from there?
Spots don’t automatically need to be removed. Depending on what your GP sees, you may be advised that no further action is currently required, have an area monitored for changes, or need further investigation, such as a skin biopsy.
This article covers
Three possible outcomes after a skin check
No further action recommended at this appointment
Your GP has not identified a spot requiring further investigation based on the examination performed at that appointment. Continue to monitor your skin and seek medical advice if you notice a new or changing spot.
Monitoring recommended
A spot has characteristics your GP wants to monitor. Images may be taken so its size, shape, colour or other features can be compared at a future appointment.
Further investigation or treatment
Your GP may recommend a biopsy or removal based on the appearance of the spot and your individual circumstances.
What factors can affect your skin cancer risk?
Age is only one part of skin cancer risk. Skin type, previous sun exposure, outdoor work, family history, previous skin cancers, solarium use, and certain medical conditions or medicines can also affect a person’s risk.
Cancer Council Australia provides a detailed overview of recognised skin cancer risk factors.
Skin cancer risk is influenced by a combination of factors. These may include:
- fair or sun-sensitive skin
- a history of significant sunburn or extensive sun exposure
- outdoor work or recreation
- numerous or unusual-looking moles
- a personal or family history of melanoma or other skin cancers
- previous suspicious skin lesions
- solarium use
- medicines or medical conditions that suppress the immune system.
Having one or more of these factors does not mean that you have or will develop skin cancer. People without these factors can also develop skin cancer.
Your GP can consider your individual history and examine your skin before recommending whether you need further assessment, ongoing skin checks or photographic monitoring.
New or changing spots, or spots that concern you, should be assessed regardless of your risk factors.
If you are concerned about a new or changing spot, book an appointment with your GP.
Why many people choose to start outside summer
Many people think about skin checks after a summer holiday or when they notice a new spot.
Having Total Body Mapping before the busiest summer period has a practical advantage. It allows your GP to create a baseline before another season of beach days, fishing, gardening and time outdoors, making future comparisons more accurate.
It also gives your GP time to identify any areas they’d like to keep an eye on before your skin has another season of Queensland sun exposure.
When your GP recommends monitoring a spot
Not every spot that catches your GP’s attention needs to be removed.
Sometimes, useful clinical information comes from determining whether a spot changes over time. This requires a reliable record for comparison at a future appointment.
For some patients, a GP may recommend clinical photography or Total Body Mapping to assist with monitoring over time.
Total Body Mapping records standardised images that may help your clinician compare areas of skin at future appointments. Depending on the imaging performed, this may include areas that are difficult for you to monitor yourself.
Comparing images may provide useful clinical information. However, an unchanged appearance does not by itself exclude skin cancer.
When your GP recommends a skin biopsy or excision
A biopsy involves removing a sample, or sometimes the whole lesion, so it can be examined by a pathologist. Depending on the lesion and the clinical circumstances, this may involve a shave biopsy, punch biopsy or excisional biopsy. If further excision is required, your GP will explain how much additional tissue is recommended for removal and why.
A biopsy can provide information that cannot always be confirmed by examining the skin alone. The type of biopsy recommended will depend on the spot, its location and your individual clinical circumstances.
Your GP will explain the proposed procedure, its purpose, potential risks, expected benefits, alternatives and likely costs before obtaining your consent.
Skin checks at Sunstate Family Practice are performed by GPs with experience in skin cancer assessment. Where clinically appropriate, biopsies may be performed at the practice.
When a spot needs to be removed
If removal is recommended, your GP will explain what needs to be removed, why removal is recommended, what the procedure involves, the potential risks and the likely costs before proceeding.
Where clinically appropriate, skin biopsies and excisions may be performed in Sunstate Family Practice’s on-site procedure room. This allows some patients to continue this stage of their care at the same practice.
Tissue removed for diagnostic purposes is sent to pathology for examination. The pathology result helps your GP determine whether any further treatment or follow-up is required.
What if melanoma is found?
If melanoma is identified, the next steps depend on the pathology result, the clinical findings and the patient’s individual circumstances. Your GP will explain the result and discuss any further treatment, investigation, follow-up or referral that may be required.
Dr Randal Johnson discusses this question in the short video below.
EMBED VID Watch the video: What if melanoma is found when I’m having Total Body Mapping?
What happens at your next skin check?
Your GP can re-examine monitored spots, check for anything new and, where available, compare previous clinical photographs or Total Body Mapping images.
How often you should have a skin check depends on your individual risk factors and clinical circumstances. Your GP can assess your risk and advise whether regular skin checks or photographic monitoring are appropriate for you.
New or changing spots—or spots that concern you—should be assessed regardless of when you last had a skin check.
