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Table 3 Perceived early signs and symptoms of Melanoma

From: Patient-identified early clinical warning signs of nodular melanoma: a qualitative study

Signs/ symptoms

Nodular melanoma

Superficial spreading melanoma

Nodular melanoma

≤ 2 mm

≤ 2 mm

>  2 mm

Asymmetry

 Round

Round or roundish, circle or circular

Circular, like a big circle

Circular, like a big circle

 Oblong

Not perfectly round, oblong

Not perfectly round, jetted off

 

Like a small kidney bean

Not perfectly round, smaller in one direction

 

 Square

Square

 

Rectangular

Border

 Slightly irregular

A little bit (or slightly) irregular

Half-moon edge on the side of the border

A little irregular

  

Definite border, visible where it started and stopped

 Jagged

Jagged

Jagged border on one side

 
 

Jagged, uneven, undefined, melted into skin

 

 Irregular coloration

 

Skin was a little bit pink, right on the border

 
 

[Pinkish with] a tan border

 

Color

 White

Little white dot

 

Interior looked white or grey-white

  

Brownish white

  

Darker white

 Beige

Very light beige w/ black spot in the middle

 

Skin color shade

 Blue

Bluish dark

  

Bluish, multi-colored

  

 Black

Black freckle, like a black head

  

Black dotted marks leaving a trail of brown

  

 Pink

Pinkish, looking like a pimple

Pinkish

Pink

 

Pinkish with a tan border

 
 

Pinkish, pearlescent- like a reflection of a pearl

 
 

Pink bumpy/bubbly area with a black freckle on top

 
  

Dark pink

 Red

Red

 

Red

Red, pinkish lesion

Reddish

Reddish, almost bright red

Tiny, little red spot

  

 Brown

 

Light and dark brown, with darker spots inside

 

Brown

Brown

Brown

Brownish or maroonish

Brownish like a dark freckle

A little brownish

Brownish dark

 

Dark brown

 Reddish brown

Dark, reddish brown

Brown and lighter /reddish

Brown with some red

 

Reddish brown

Brown with some purple

 Dark

Really dark with an even darker spot inside

Dark, almost black

Dark

Diameter

 Tiny dot

Like a dot made with a pen

Tiny, like lead on a pencil, the size of a dot

 

Tiny, tiny little spots

  

Tiny, tiny, tiny, like the head of a pin

  

Like if you took a fine-tipped pen and you just put three dots on a piece of paper

  

 < Pencil eraser

Fairly small (1/8 of an inch)

Very small (2 mm to 3–4 mm)

Like a small pinhead used for sewing (1.5 mm)

Much smaller than a pencil eraser

Much smaller than a pencil eraser

Like the tip of a pen (2 mm)

Like a half of a pencil eraser

Smaller than the size of a pencil eraser

 

About 2/3 of a pencil eraser

Half the size of a pencil eraser, very small

 

 ~ Pencil eraser

The size of a pencil eraser

Almost the size of a pencil eraser

The size of a pencil eraser

 

The size of a pencil eraser or a little smaller

Like a big pimple (1/4 of an inch

  

About 1/4 in. round

 > Pencil eraser

A little bigger than a pencil eraser

Like two pencil-head erasers side-by-side

A little bigger than the size of a pencil eraser

The size of my little finger’s fingernail

The size of the little fingernail on your hand

As big as a very small blueberry, maybe even smaller

Really tiny, smaller than 1 cm

1 cm diameter

 
 

Smaller than the size of a dime

 
 

A little bit smaller than my thumbnail

The size of my thumbnail

 

About the size of a dime, maybe bigger

About the size of a dime

  

The size of a penny

  

The size of a quarter, large

  

A little bigger than a quarter

  

Approximately 2 cm

Elevation

 Slight

Teeny little bump

A little raised (1/8 of an inch; 1 mm)

A little raised

Only slight [elevation]

Elevated a little, you could feel it, definitely

A little raised bump

Not huge, just slight [elevation]

Could feel it- if you ran your finger over it

A little bit raised but not grossly

Definitely more flat, but [also] raised a bit

Not very much elevated, a little bumpy

Elevated a little bit

Flat, less than 1 mm, a really tiny thing

Like a little raised scar, bubbly a little bit

A little bit elevated, some parts higher than others

A little bit elevated but small, small

Rounded at the top, a tiny bubble like a tiny curve -also went down below the surface

Could feel it, wasn’t flush with the skin (1/4 in. high)

Elevated above the skin like bumps on skin

 

The big the balloon was maybe 1/8 of an inch

Elevated, like a pimple

 

Raised at least a ¼ of an inch, maybe more

 Textured

A little bit raised, puffy, just like a little bump

A little bit bumpy with a rough texture

Growing out of the skin, I could feel the crustiness

A little bit raised, puffed up

A little raised, a little crusty

Felt like a bee sting, no pain (the texture of it)

 Prominent

Raised up and prominent

 

Raised, pronounced, thick (5 mm)

  

Raised, like a swelling from a bee sting

Evolution [chronology]

 Asymmetry change

From round to oblong [2 weeks]

Changed shape [In a matter of weeks]

Looked different from last time I checked [2 months]

 

Not the same shape as in the past [6 months]

 

 Border change

Became more irregular [6–12 months]

Got irregular [In a matter of weeks]

 
 

Some parts of the border became red [Over the last few years]

 

 Color change

From light beige to beige with a black spot [Over time]

Became darker at the center

 

From brownish to darker with brown tinges [2 weeks]

From light brown to really dark [Really fast]

 
 

Got darker, from light to dark brown [6 months]

 

Became a little bit dark

Got a little darker [Slowly, over the years]

 
  

From brown to brown with purple in it [2–4 months]

From brown to black, in a dripping pattern [2 weeks]

 

From brown to black [4–5 months]

From bluish dark to almost black [3 months]

 

Blackened

 Diameter change

Didn’t get too much bigger [2 weeks]

Grew in size [Overnight]

Got bigger, from 0.5 to 2 cm [4 weeks]

Grew quickly, all of a sudden [4–6 weeks]

Got a little bigger [Over the last few years]

Got bigger [3–4 months]

Got a little bit bigger, larger [3 months]

Grew a little bit bigger [Slowly, over the years]

Came back/grew after biopsy [4–5 months]

Got bigger, from 1 to 2 mm [6–12 months]

Grew in size, from nothing to pencil eraser size [In a matter of weeks]

Got slightly bigger [Almost 1 year]

Got (a little bit) bigger [Over time]

 

Kept getting bigger and bigger

Growing in size [12 months]

  

 Elevation change

Got raised [2 weeks]

 

Got higher [4 weeks]

  

More raised [2 months]

 

Got more density to it [Very quick]

Became thicker [3.5 weeks]

Became more pronounced

 

Became more pronounced, protruding from the skin [Relatively quickly]

Became puffy [6–12 months]

 

Became bumpier, not smooth [2–4 months]

Puffed up [Over time]

  

Physical signs and symptoms

 Itchy

A little bit itchy

  

Really itchy

Itching a good deal

 

Became itchy

Became itchy [6 months]

Became itchy [2 months]

 Bleeding

Bleeding after shaving/ picking at it

 

Bleeding after shaving or squeezing [2–3 weeks]

Blood spots under the mole

 

Bleeding

 Weeping

  

Weeping pus

  

Discharge

  

Moist

 Multiple signs

A little bit itchy and bleeding [Once]

Itchy, scaling and flaky, cracking, bleeding

Itchy, sore/sensitive, and bleeding- from towel drying

  

Bleeding a little, open sore, scabbed over

 

A little bit itchy and a little bit scaly

Itchy and erupting [Periodically]

 

Itchy, did not heal, looked like a keloid scar

 
 

Became dry, scaly, peeling [All of the sudden]

 
 

Sensitive and hurting/ sore, radiating pain [All of a sudden]

Itchy and painful

  

Oozing- from towel drying, sensitive, breaking open

Tactile sensations

Did not feel right, it was purely tactile

 

Could feel it- by touching

 

Hardened, became more solid [Over a few days]

Hardened a little bit

  

Felt like a hard pimple- by touching

  

Felt like cracking a peanut open- after squeezing

  1. NM nodular melanoma, SSM superficial spreading melanoma