How fast can skin cancer spread and grow? does it take days, weeks, or months?

I see all of these things that say... you need to catch skin cancer early. But nothing says what early means, does this mean every time i see an abnormal thing on my skin i should run to the doctor? Or should I wait a day, or a week, or a month?

When people go to the doctor and the cancer is in it's late stages, were they an hour too late, a day too late, a week too late, 10 years to late?

Seriously... cancer sites need to put more information out there about rate of growth and timing.

There are several degrees of 'skin cancer' ... malignant melanoma (a mole with an uneven shape, raised, dark color or mixed color) is the very worst and you should see a doctor within two weeks of noticing a new mole that isn't perfectly round or is slightly raised. There is also keratosis ... skin cancer that older people get, especially when they have been sunburned when young. This looks like a freckle, but if you touch it there is some tenderness, as if it's a 'scab' ... show those to your doctor at your annual check up, or your next check up ... the doctor will 'watch' them for you, and if they turn to an 'active' cancer you will be advised you need surgical removal. Many people get these taken off in the office (outpatient surgery) and are just fine ... but a few go on to develop serious skin cancer or malignant melanoma later in the same spot.

It depends on how severe the cancer is, and the type of cancer. Once you spot an abnormal mole, it's extremely important to get to the doctors, even the A&E, as soon as possible. If it's catched really early, all they need to do is take out the discolored mole and give you a few tests to see if it's spreaded.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/conditions/c...
http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles/art...

Of several types of skin cancer possible, 3 are the most common = basal cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and malignant melanoma (MM) ( alias melanocarcinoma) BCC is the most common, slowest growing, and rarely ever spreads to any other part of the body, thus making it easiest to cure. SCC is more malignant and after growing larger where it began could invade local tissues by spreading out, and rarely infrequently spreading elsewhere in the body. MM is the killer as once the initial melanoma begins to grow, in its irregular edges and color, it can spread through the body's lymph system to all parts of the entire body and take life away. It's the MM that needs to be identified and completely excised before it spreads. The exact amount of time is unknown, perhaps weeks to months. Once a MM spread to a distant site in the body, more than a few inches away or to one of the other body organs besides the skin, cure becomes rare.
Try searching wen sites for malignant melanoma to see photos and more info. Yopu can also see photos of BCC and SCC. BCC and SCC are mainly found on the elderly in sun-exposed skin of the head. MM can be found in all adults almost anywhere in the body.