\u201cAll a tan is, whether from sunlight or a tanning parlor, is physical evidence of damaging ultraviolet rays on your skin,\u201d she says. \u201cIt has a cumulative effect over your lifetime, and is a\u00a0 path to skin cancer and photoaging.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grant-Kels, who recently retired as chair of the UConn Health Department of Dermatology<\/a> but remains active seeing patients and directs the UConn Cutaneous Oncology Center and Melanoma Program, has several reminders about avoiding skin cancer.<\/p>\n \u201cA is asymmetry<\/strong>, which means if you draw a line through the lesion you couldn\u2019t fold it over and have it be symmetrical,\u201d Grant-Kels says. \u201cB is border irregularity<\/strong>, C is for color variation<\/strong>, D is for changing diameter<\/strong>, and E is for evolving<\/strong>. A lesion that is changing or evolving is something that should be checked out.\u201d<\/p>\n And if the idea of a skin biopsy keeps you away from the doctor, know that UConn dermatologists have access to technology that produces an image of the skin histology and enables analysis of the skin at the cellular level, all without the need to remove any tissue<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIn many cases I am able to diagnose most skin cancers versus a benign lesion,\u201d Grant-Kels says. \u201cWe can look through the skin without doing a biopsy, and it gives me the ability to see more pathology than I can even under the microscope.\u201d<\/p>\n May is National Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month, according to the American Cancer Society. The American Academy of Dermatology designates the first Monday in May as Melanoma Monday. Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer.<\/p>\n\n
![\"shutterstock_283557548\"](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/shutterstock_283557548-231x300.jpg\")
A suspicious mole is not always a sign of skin cancer, but it could be. To understand what makes a lesion suspicious, keep in mind the first five letters of the alphabet:<\/p>\n