The Warning Signs of Skin Cancer. Skin cancers -- including melanoma, basal cell carcinoma, and squamous cell carcinoma -- often start as changes to your skin. They can be new growths or precancerous lesions -- changes that are not cancer but could become cancer over time.owen Disease. Bowen disease is also called squamous cell carcinoma in situ.. It is a type of skin cancer that spreads outward on the surface of the skin. By contrast, invasive squamous cell carcinomas can grow inward and spread to the interior of the body.