Not all Melanomas are brown or black, what other type of melanoma should you be on alert for?

Contrary to popular belief, not all melanomas are dark-coloured. There are several rarer forms of melanoma that can appear quite different to what most people imagine a melanoma would look like.

One type of rare melanoma is called amelanotic melanoma, it is a form of melanoma where the cancerous cells produce little or no pigment and appear pink or white in colour. This type accounts for approximately 1-8% of all melanomas. Melanomas form due to abnormal changes or mutations in the melanocyte’s DNA, in amelanotic melanomas this abnormal change also affects the melanocyte’s ability to produce the dark pigment. Usually this dark pigment is what gives melanomas their classic brown-black appearance, as this is lacking these melanomas appear light in colour.

For more infromation on who gets amelanitic melanomas and what causes them, read more at: https://dermnetnz.org/topics/amelanotic-melanoma/#:~:text=Amelanotic%20melanoma%20is%20a%20form,pigment%20is%20rare%20%5B1%5D.