RATIONALE: New diagnostic procedures, such as bioelectric field imaging, may help find and diagnose melanoma and other skin cancers. It may also be a less invasive way to check for skin cancer.

PURPOSE: This phase I trial is studying bioelectric field imaging in diagnosing melanoma and other skin cancers in patients with skin lesions.

OBJECTIVES:

• To determine if the hand-held Bioelectric Field Imager can be used to measure the electric field in skin of various body surfaces, including face, neck, shoulders, arms, hands, chest, back, legs, and feet, during the course of examination and treatment of patients with suspected malignant skin lesions.
• To determine if there is a significant difference between the lateral electric field strength near benign and malignant skin lesions in the same individual.

OUTLINE: Patients undergo scanning of their skin lesions and nearby healthy skin using the Bioelectric Field Imager (BFI). The lesions are then biopsied for histological diagnosis. Histological data from the biopsy is correlated with the electric field data from the BFI.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Suspected malignant skin lesion
• Seeking treatment for skin lesion at the VA Medical Center

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

• Not pregnant
• No acute illness, including upper respiratory tract infection or flu that could result in fever
• No trauma to the skin lesion area
• No prisoners

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

• See Disease Characteristics