Average age for melanoma: what age can it occur?

There is no single age at which melanoma starts. A changing or unusual skin mark deserves assessment based on its features and evolution, not reassurance based only on a person's age.

Risk can build over time as ultraviolet exposure accumulates and skin cells acquire damage. Personal factors also matter, including a history of sunburn, tanning-bed exposure, many or atypical moles, lighter sun-sensitive skin, a weakened immune system, and melanoma in a close relative.

A person's age cannot diagnose melanoma. Clinicians assess the spot itself, looking for asymmetry, an irregular border, varied colour, enlargement, or another clear change. Melanoma may also appear as a new mark rather than arising from a long-standing mole.

Arrange a skin assessment if a mole or mark is new, changing, or unlike the others on your body. Note when you first saw it and take a well-lit photograph with a size reference if this can be done without delaying care.

Check less visible areas such as the scalp, back, soles, between the toes, and beneath nails. A dermatologist may examine the mark with magnification and decide whether removal for laboratory examination is appropriate.

Book a prompt appointment for a mark that is growing, changing shape or colour, repeatedly bleeding, crusting without healing, or persistently itching or hurting. These features do not establish the cause, but they should not be ignored at any age.

Seek urgent help for bleeding that will not stop with firm pressure or for signs of infection such as spreading redness, warmth, swelling, or fever.

Useful topics include which features are reassuring or concerning, whether dermoscopic examination or biopsy is needed, how to monitor the rest of your skin, and whether your personal or family history changes the follow-up plan.