Hi,

I know it's not good for your mental health when you get an urgent cancer referral made but it's really good that your GP is erring on the side of caution & letting the experts decide if your mole is innocent or not.

75% of patients referred urgently to dermatology are given a clean bill of health, either immediately after using a dermascope to examine the mole or eventually after it's removal and biopsy if the dermascope & dermatologist are unsure. Of those 75%, most are a completely innocent, benign mole whilst the rest are dysplastic (also known as atypical or precancerous). The cells of these moles are slowly changing &, if they aren't removed, will later turn malignant so it's best they've been removed. I, myself, have had 6 further moles removed since my melanoma diagnosis and they have all been benign, so don't panic.

A mole that itches, especially if it's around rather than on the mole, could be due to a skin problem either around or underneath the mole, such as eczema, dermatitis etc. So hopefully your mole will turn out to be fine. If it isn't, it's still not the end of the world in that, most melanomas are caught early & treatment will deal with it.

My advice is - step away from Google - it's not up to date information & it tends to focus on worse case scenarios which fuels anxiety. It's better to wait until you've seen dermatology and you know more, otherwise the anxiety building up will make you feel worse. Distract yourself until then. Good luck & please let us know how you get on,

Angie (Stage 3 melanoma patient since 2009)