Community Health Outreach and Education Program

Skin Cancer

We all need to learn how to be safe in the sun.

Lower Your Risk Screening Contact Us

Lower Your Risk

In a state known for its beaches, we all need to learn how to be safe in the sun.

Everyone is at risk for skin cancer, but it can be prevented.

Protect yourself from ultraviolet rays from the sun and avoid tanning beds.
Use water-resistant sunscreen (and reapply often!), wear sunglasses, wide-brimmed hats and protective clothing.
Check your skin for new growths, changes in a mole or a sore that won’t heal.
Check your own skin regularly — know what is normal for you — and talk with your doctor about whether you need a skin exam as part of your routine health check-up, especially if you are at higher risk of melanoma.

The Five Types of Skin Cancer

There are five types of skin cancer:

Basal and squamous cell skin cancer.
Melanoma skin cancer.
Merkel cell skin cancer.
Lymphoma of the skin.
Kaposi sarcoma.

Warning Signs

The most important warning sign of melanoma is a new spot on the skin or a spot that changes in size, shape or color. Remember the ABCDE rule:

Asymmetry: one half of the mole or birthmark does not match the other.
Border: edges are irregular, ragged, notched or blurred.
Color: color is not the same all over; may include different shades of brown or black sometimes with patches of pink, red, white or blue.
Diameter: spot larger than 6 millimeters (about ¼ inch)
Evolving: mole changes in size, shape or color.

Also look for:

A sore that doesn’t heal.
Spread of pigment from the border of a spot into surrounding skin.
Redness or new swelling beyond the border of the mole.
Itchiness, tenderness or pain.
Scaliness, oozing, bleeding or the appearance of a lump or bump.
Show your doctor any mole that you are unsure of.

To learn more, call 302-623-4661 or visit:

Click here to Find a Doctor or call us at 800-693-CARE.

Screening for Life and Health Care Connection

Don’t let lack of insurance or copays keep you from getting screened!

Screening for Life and the Health Care Connection Screening for Life provides payment for cancer screening tests recommended by your doctor if you meet age, income and insurance guidelines. This program is a cooperative effort of the Delaware Division of Public Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The Health Care Connection simplifies the eligibility screening process to help uninsured Delawareans access primary care and medical specialists, disease prevention services — such as cancer screenings — and helps ensure access to prescription programs, laboratory and radiology services.