An itch that doesn’t need to be scratched may not be much of an itch to begin with, but if you’ve done plenty of scratching but the itch persists as strong as before then you may be left to wonder what is going on. An insect bite will be an easily identified indicator, but if there’s nothing to quickly explain what’s causing this regular itching then you may be wondering does skin cancer itch, or can skin cancer be itchy? Catching a melanoma as early as possible is important if you want to avoid excision surgery.  

Yes, itchy skin can be a sign of skin cancer, but it is more of an indicator of skin lymphoma. Chronic itching due to any cause is known as pruritus and some people with skin cancer will be more likely to have itchy skin as a symptom based on their individual physiology. All types of skin cancers can leave affected skin areas with chronic itchiness and irritation, including squamous cell and basal cell carcinoma cancers in the skin too.  

More specifically in relation to does skin cancer itch, people who have overactive immune system responses are the ones who are going to have seriously itchy skin resulting from skin cancer. And this will usually be a precursor symptom to seeing the visible changes to skin that often present themselves once the cancer has grown and progressed. The risk with does skin cancer itch is the same as any other cancer – if it’s not caught early enough there is the chance it metastasizes and becomes a lymphoma.  

One More Than Others  

It’s for this reason that itchy skin that just doesn’t cease itching might want to spur you into seeing a doctor or overweight dermatologist. Catching skin cancer in its early stage often means you’ll need nothing more than a minor treatment to get rid of it, and if that ends up being the case because you took action after chronic itchy skin, you’ll be quite thankful for your proactivity with cancer detection. It is definitely a consideration that can be connected to does skin cancer itch, and there are other skin cancer symptoms you should never ignore.  

Can skin cancer be itchy? It can, and if you have reason to believe that’s why your skin is itchy then it makes so much sense to have that consultation with a medical professional as soon as possible. It happens more often with squamous cell carcinoma. OTC anti-itch creams may work well enough to mitigate the itching caused by skin inflammation, but getting relief this way may means you’re overlooking the root of the problem.  

We’ve said that the answer to does skin cancer itch is that yes, it can. So, if you’re overlooking the problem in this instance, the outcomes can actually be quite devastating if the cancer is able to spread.