How does mole mapping work?

Mole mapping assists in early melanoma detection. It can help identify changes in your spots, and can work as an extra way of highlighting which of your spots or moles might need closer examination or removal.

Most early melanomas usually tend to spread outwards on the surface of the skin before they grow deeper and spread to other parts of the body. Melanoma diagnosed in this early stage (less than 1 mm thick at the time of removal) has a survival rate of close to 100%.

If you have many moles, it can be hard to keep track of which ones are new or changing. This is a problem because identifying a changing mole could lead to an early diagnosis of treatable melanoma. Mole mapping can help identify changes in your spots and can work as an extra way of pinpointing which of your spots or moles might need closer examination or removal.

Research studies have shown that mole mapping is associated with early melanoma detection in people at high risk of melanoma. The Cancer Council of Australia recommends that mole mapping be considered as a method of recording a baseline and checking for changes in people at high risk.