Hey everyone, I am new to this cancer section. The reason I am here is because of some moles i have had for a few years. They are pretty big, and i have three of them side by side almost in line opf each other spread apart by about a half inch. They are in a embarressing area of my body. They are located below my belly button where my pubic hair is. i am a 26 year old male, i have had trhese sense about 20 years of age. they are odd looking but not that odd, not to dark, just dark tan and a lil light. do you think these are signs of Melanoma? i just read about it and was a litle worried after reading the characteristics of it. howeve rilooked at some pics of Melanoma moles and mine look nothing like them. any ideas?

The location of the moles don't sound like they would get a lot of sun exposure. Most melanomas are linked to sun exposure during childhood.

Also, are they asymetrical? That's a sign, along with color. If in doubt, ask your doctor. I live in Florida and our insurance commision requires that anyone with insurance can visit a dermatologist up to 5 times a year (without a referal) and still have it covered. If you live in an area where the melanoma rate is high, you may have the same option.

Also, sometimes it can take up to a year to get in to see a good dermatologist, so ask your doctor now.

I to live in florida. I just moved here to port richey north of tampa. i dont know what the term asymetrical means. I have one on my back but i had a dermatologst look at it when i had an appointment with it. he was not alarmed about it. thanks for your responce though. would i have any symptoms at all?

I live in Largo, so we aren't too far off. Symetrical means that if you drew a line down the center, the 2 pieces would be the same mirror-images of each other. The same shape, but reversed. Asymetical is the opposite, where the two sides don't look anything alike. Also, size matters. If it's larger than a pencil eraser, have it removed just to be sure.

My uncle died from melanoma in 2001. I had never met him, but when I had a dermatologist suggest I remove three moles I freaked. The wierd thing is, the moles they were concerned about weren't the ones I thought were bad. They were flat, not upraised. All the tests came back OK.

I have two sons, one (the youngest) has several moles in his scalp. For this reason, I make him keep his hair longer for added protection. I also bugged our local school board until they changed their "no hats" policy to allow them while the kids are outside, and I've talked to St. Rep. Waters about making it FL law that school boards allow hats during all outdoor activities. It's a slow process, but I'm hopeful. (In Australia it is illegal for schools to allow a child to participate in outdoor activities unless they are wearing a hat. Too bad we aren't as progressive here in the states.)

Ya judging by where my moles are located perhaps they are not a bad sign. the edges might look slightly different because now and then i use a shave to trim certain areas and before i realized they were there i cut them a few years ago. thismight have something to do with the shape. if i have had them for atleast 5 years i would imagine i would have osme sort of discomfort in tht egeneral area they were in right? i dont haveinsurance right now so its tough. wow ur in largo? lived in stpetelast year...small world.