Possible skin cancer? maybe just a rash.

[AnthonyT]

I have within the past 2-3 months had a spot in the center of my chest that itches horribly every so often. At other times its fine. its kind of a light red color and there are spots scattered around it. It's Darker than my light tan colored skin though. I am 23, male, 5' 7". My mom has breast cancer and my uncle MAY have had cancer we don't quite know because he's secretive. I scratched it a bunch and it started to bleed at one point. After it scabbed up and went away it got lighter and now its darker again. It also has a clear colored liquid that could just be plasma because of the scratching, coming from the pores.

I pored hydrogen peroxide on it and it burned alot and turned yellow for about 5 minutes. May or may not have had parts turn white. It was hard to tell after I flushed it with water, may have just been remnants of the peroxide.

Anyway, it is concerning me because my mom just got diagnosed, but I don't want to jump to conclusions, or pay money that I don't even have to see a doctor and have him say it will go away...

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
It does not look like a malignancy. It is not clear whether this itchy round patch is due to ring worm or nummular dermatitis. From the description (dry, red, itchy), it seems like nummular dermatitis but exact confirmation has to be done first. Steroids prescribed in nummular dermatitis can worsen the symptoms if it is ringworm.

It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your dermatologist. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.

[Chakravarthy Mazumdar, MBBS]

Hi, thanks for query.

Your apprehension is fine but it does not seem to cancer. It is possibly a fungal infection -  known as tinea infection.  They itch a lot.
Please do not try anything on it. It will lead to more problems and damage your skin. You need specific anti fungal medicine for local application. You should apply it for 7 days minimum and it will disappear.

Wishing you good health.