Katherine Ryan has revealed she has been diagnosed with skin cancer for the second time after feeling ‘uneasy’ over a mole.
In the latest episode of her podcast, the 41-year-old comedian confirmed her doctor had called her that morning with the news.
On Telling Everybody Everything, she shared she has melanoma, coming 20 years after she was first diagnosed with skin cancer.
During a visit to the doctors over a mole on her arm, Katherine was given the all-clear and told not to worry.
‘I know you should never google things but I’m actually really worried,’ she confessed. ‘Normally I’m that positive person.
‘I think it’s really easy to take a diagnosis of ‘you’re healthy’ and walk away.’
She continued: ‘But the mole kept changing, I know a lot about melanoma, I had melanoma as a very young woman – aged 21 – on my leg, I’ve spoken about that before.
‘It was flat, it wasn’t that big but it was melanoma. It is a deadly form of skin cancer and it does spread quickly.’
Katherine had a gut instinct that the mole ‘wasn’t right’ and after looking at older pictures she insisted the doctor remove it and ‘stitch it up’ again.
‘Even when he looked at it, he was like, “It’s not melanoma, it’s totally fine, I will do a shave and send it away for testing”,’ she added.
After testing, the doctor called her back with the diagnosis and Katherine is yet to share the next steps.
What is melanoma
As Katherine shared, melanoma is a form of skin cancer which is known to be particularly aggressive.
It grows from the melanocytes, the cells which form melanin and give skin its pigment.
Melanoma is known to grow quickly and can spread to other organs. Early detection — which Katherine has — is crucial in fighting it.
While it is the most deadly skin cancer, survival rates have been improving and around 87% of patients live for over 10 years after diagnosis.
The Duchess star added: ‘He rang me today and it did come back as melanoma. Early melanoma. The doctor was shocked and told me I need to go back.
‘It just feels crazy to me, what could have happened, if I hadn’t been my own advocate – and I will continue to be my own advocate.’
When she was at university, Katherine discovered a ‘golf ball-sized lump’ on her leg which had to be removed.
It was removed, with the mum-of-three later telling The Guardian she was too young to fully comprehend the gravity of the surgery.
Since then she has had her moles regularly checked and removed, joking that living in the UK is the best thing for anyone prone to skin cancer.
‘I just joked that it was free lipo,’ she told the publication in 2016 but has rarely discussed the surgery since.
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