10 Signs of Skin Cancer

10. Symptoms of Less Common Skin Cancers

Some forms of skin cancer are rare but no less detrimental. Purple or red patches on the skin or in the mucous membranes may be a symptom of Kaposi sarcoma, a type of cancer that develops in cells that line the blood or lymph vessels. People with weakened immune systems, such as those with HIV, are more susceptible to this type of cancer.

Firm, shiny, flesh-colored, or bluish-red nodules that develop at the hair follicles and below the surface of the skin on the neck, head, and body are symptoms of Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC). Physicians diagnose about 2,000 cases each year, most of which are in men over the age of 70.