[Early diagnosis of skin cancer]

The skin is the most affected organ by cancer. The incidence rates of skin cancer are steadily increasing, both for melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers (squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma). Over 90 % of the death cases from skin cancers attribute to melanoma. Survival from melanoma is strongly related to tumour thickness. Therefore early detection is the most important step to improve prognosis. In the last years a number of new non invasive techniques for the early diagnosis of melanoma have been developed which are superior to the naked eye examination. In this overview article we present some non-invasive diagnostic techniques like total body photography, digital dermoscopy and confocal microscopy which in addition to dermoscopy assist the dermatologist in differentiating nevi from early melanomas.Non-melanoma skin cancer can be prevented by accurate sun protection. Early squamous cell carcinomas and basal cell carcinomas can be treated either invasively or non-invasively with excellent prognosis.