Mole Inside The Cheek Seems To Have Grown With Purple Streaks Surrounding It. Cancer Sign?

Posted on Wed, 15 May 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 14 May 2013 Answered on

Wed, 5 Jun 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : I have had a mole on the inside of my left check and its gotten pretty big. There is few dark purple streaky looking veins leading up to it. I've had it for several years and just recently started wondering if it could be cancer. is it normal to have a mole in your mouth?

Answered by Dr. Kalpana Pathak (-8 minutes later)

Hi,
Thanks for writing to us.
I have gone through the image attached. It probably looks like a mucocele. Mucocele is a mucin retention cyst formed due to local trauma induced rupture of salivary gland. It is commonly seen over inner side lower lips, cheeks, floor of mouth etc.
It is completely benign and can persist for years.
Treatment requires excision of the cyst or it can also be destroyed with cryotherapy. I would advise that you XXXXXXX a surgeon in your area to get the lesion properly examined and treated.
Hope that helped.
Take care

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar