Do you have a mole that needs to be checked?
The Mole Mobile Clinic will make its first stops this weekend in Windsor and Chatham for the kickoff of their 2026 coast-to-coast tour.
The mobile clinic operates in partnership and support of the Canadian Dermatology Association (CDA), and will visit major Canadian cities with long wait times to see a dermatologist to help speed up the time to diagnose individuals.
The clinic is open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis, where a certified dermatologist will do a skin check.
1 in 3 cancers diagnosed is skin cancer. Skin cancer is the most common cancer in Canada. Skin cancers are the most common type of cancer diagnosed in men over 49 years of age and are among the most common cancers diagnosed in youth and young adults.
Dr. Mark Kirchhof, President of the Canadian Dermatology Association, says each visit is only a few minutes long.
"Most of the people we see we can tell them - nothing to worry about, but there are sometimes cases where we do make a diagnosis of a serious, potential cancer, and so that's important to get checked out. Most of the people we can tell them there's nothing to worry about, and they don't need to see their family doctor, don't need to see a dermatologist - we are trying to help out the system a little bit in that way."
He says if detected early, melanoma and skin cancers are largely treatable.
"Melanoma is usually one of those brown or black spots that might look a bit different than the other spots that you have. It might be growing a bit faster, it might be itching, it might be painful, those are some warning signs. When you're looking at them, changing moles are really the thing that's most sensitive for making a diagnosis of melanoma."
Kirchhof says there are ways to protect yourself.
"Using sunscreen, and sun protection is important and the reason why the sun is damaging is because it has UV radiation, and this type of radiation or light has been shown to cause breaks in our DNA, and cause mutations and damage, and that's ultimately what leads to skin cancer development."
The Mole Mobile will be in Windsor on Saturday, May 9, at the Walmart on Tecumseh Road East.
The clinic will then be in Chatham on Sunday, May 10, at the Walmart on St. Clair Street.
The Mole Mobile will travel from coast to coast until October 31, with more than 130 stops planned in communities across Canada.
-with files from AM800's The Shift with Patty Handysides