Mitchell, I'm so sorry. You obviously are very well educated about this subject, so you don't need to read the rest of this.
Allow me to tell others this:
Know what to look for in the difference of appearence between a normal and abnormal mole. Learn how to do this by reading information on websites I mentioned above, as well as:
www.skincancer.org/self_exam/look_for.php
Read on about the staging of melanoma; the depth and appearence of the cancer cells in the skin layer determines it's severity.
If you remove only part of the abnormal area (say, by chemically burning off the surface) the cancer will continue to spread. When it is surgically removed, the entire area is examined for abnormal cells as well as the MARGINS of the sample. If it shows the margins are not clear, more tissue will need to be taken off.
I don't think that "removing" a mole will cause cancer; that's just silly. If it's already present though, removing all cancerous tissue is vitally important to stop it's spread (unless it already has).
There are many different types of moles from normal to stages of atypical (some, not all, of which are precancerous and need to be removed to be biopsied as well or closely watched), all the way to stages of melanoma.
Well, heck no, all moles aren't cancerous, or will be (not that I said that) but it's important that they are examined by a professional to keep track of changes. Removing a normal mole won't do squat, but taking off a atypical one will. It's better to have them evaluated by someone who knows what they're doing, because why would you want to go willy nilly about taking off pieces of your body if you don't have to?
I don't. I have a compleate skin exam done every year, to keep an eye on the many moles I have. I hope that I don't get any more scars to go with the three surgeries I've had to remove atypical moles, one of which had to be re-excised (more skin removed) becasue it was considered moderately to severely atypical. I'm glad I didn't develop melanoma, because that would have happened if anything would have been left behind. I don't want it either, so I do everything I can to learn about it.
Sun can cause cancerous changes in moles, but that wasn't the case for me...they were just there.
People are quite free to decide what treatment course they should consider for removing, wether it be surgically or chemically burned off (synthetic or not, a chemical reaction is still the same result). Hopefully, they will make that decision with the right information to go on.
My choice if for only cosmetic reasons- have it done by a professional dermatologist, who can at the very least control scarring. If they're considered normal looking, just leave them alone, but be careful about the sun and keep an eye out for changes.
I'll give everyone my "real" experience as well- a little more knowledge never hurt anyone who might need it.
I hope the OP has been helped.