A unique feature of skin cancers is the fact that the clinical manifestations of subsequent stages of tumor progression are visible to the naked eye and easily accessible for histological and molecular genetic studies. This holds true for the development from (atypical) moles to cutaneous melanoma, the development from sun-damaged skin to actinic keratoses and finally cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas, and for different types of cutaneous lymphoma. Correlation between clinical and histological parameters on the one hand and the results from molecular genetic and protein studies on the other is expected to provide in the next five years new diagnostic and prognostic markers as well as new targets for therapeutic and preventive strategies. The title of his inaugural lecture was ‘Dermatology on the move'.