The Mole That Changed His Life
- After years of monitoring a suspicious mole, Fox News personality Guy Benson, 40, finally acted on a nagging feeling that something could be amiss as the mole started to make subtle changes over time. After seeing a doctor, he was diagnosed with stage 1A melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer due to its ability to spread to other parts of the body.
- Fortunately, Benson caught his cancer early and underwent treatment. He now advocates for regular skin checks to spot changes in moles that could signal melanoma. He says, “This is one of the most treatable and curable cancers if caught early.”
- Melanoma is considered one of the most dangerous forms of skin cancer because of its ability to spread to other parts of the body. It starts in the cells that give your skin, hair, and eyes their color. The cells change, which allows them to spread to other organs.
- “Patients at risk are patients who are fair-skinned, with blond hair and blue eyes, patients who may have a family history of melanoma, or patients who have what we call dysplastic nevus syndrome, who are just covered in thousands and thousands of moles,” Medical oncologist, Dr. Anna Pavlick, explains.
- While Benson says he did not undergo Mohs surgery for his specific treatment, this procedure is among the leading methods for treating skin cancer on delicate, high-risk areas like the face, ears, and nose. It removes cancerous tissue layer by layer, ensuring that only affected areas are excised while preserving as much healthy skin as possible.
- “There are some institutions where MOHS micrographic surgery is performed, but the standard of treatment and, perhaps, the gold standard for treatment of melanoma is actually a surgical treatment with wide margins. Those margins are – they’re predicated based on how deep the melanoma is,” Dr. Nima Gharavi, Director of Dermatologic Surgery and Mohs Micrographic Surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, explains.
“I had always been a little worried,” Benson shared with SurvivorNet.
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A Mole That Didn’t Sit Right
Benson had been getting skin checks since childhood, thanks to a family history of skin cancer and his parents’ insistence. But life got busy, and despite regularly seeing dermatologists, one particular mole on his torso—visible since high school—kept catching his attention. “For years, multiple dermatologists would say, ‘Nope, we’re not worried about it,’” he recalled. “Then I realized it had been 18, 19 months, and the mole started to seem a little bit different. Flaky, itchy… just different.”
This time, his dermatologist took a closer look and immediately ordered a biopsy. Within a week, Benson received the call: it was invasive malignant melanoma.
“They called it 1A,” he said. “With 99-plus percent certainty, they believed if we cut it out, we’d get clear margins and I’d be on my way.”
Melanoma starts in the same cells that give your skin, hair, and eyes their color—the cells in melanoma change, allowing them to spread to other organs.
WATCH: Am I at High Risk for Melanoma?
Medical oncologist, Dr. Anna Pavlick, explains who is most at risk.
“Patients at risk are patients who are fair-skinned, with blond hair and blue eyes, patients who may have a family history of melanoma, or patients who have what we call dysplastic nevus syndrome, who are just covered in thousands and thousands of moles,” Dr. Pavlick said.
RELATED: Surgery Is the Best Option For Melanoma.
Benson says he remembered an acronym that helps spot concerning moles: the ABCDEs.
WATCH: Understanding the ABCEDs.
Dr. Cecilia Larocca, a dermatologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, recommends looking at your skin once a month for anything suspicious and using the acronym ABCDE as a checklist:
- Asymmetrical moles: If you drew a line straight down the center of the mole, would the sides match? If not, your mole is considered asymmetrical.
- Borders: The edges of your mole look irregular, jagged, or uneven; they can also indicate bleeding.
- Colors: Multiple distinct colors in the mole, including patches of pink, brown, grey, and black, but could be any color.
- Diameter: Larger than 6mm, about the size of a pencil head eraser.
- Evolution: Anything that’s changing over time, such as gaining color, losing color, pain, itching, changing shape, etc.
Dr. Larocca emphasizes that any mole that’s changing in appearance or causing symptoms should be looked at by a dermatologist as soon as possible. Black moles of any kind are also at high risk for melanoma.
A Scar That Told a Story
The surgery was more extensive than Benson anticipated.
“I gasped, actually, at how big the surgery had been and how big that scar was with these big blue sutures,” he said. “But that’s what they needed to do to make sure I was going to be okay.”
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His doctor warned that waiting longer could have led to a much worse outcome. “This scar on my torso would be a lot more than just that scar. It could be a lot worse.”
Now, Benson undergoes full-body skin checks every three months to monitor for any new or suspicious growths.
Using His Platform to Save Lives
Initially focused solely on getting the cancer out of his body, Benson hadn’t planned to go public. But his father nudged him: “Hey, are you going to talk about this? You have a national radio show. You have a social media presence.”
That push led Benson to share his story on Instagram, Twitter, and even on-air during his national radio program, “Guy Benson Show.” The response was overwhelming.
“I’ve now heard from hundreds of people who have made appointments to go get checked, including some of my on-air colleagues at Fox,” he said.
RELATED: Cable News Personality Kat Timpf, 36, Steps Back From Work for Breast Cancer Surgery
Benson’s goal is simple: to encourage others not to wait.
“Unfortunately, and frighteningly, a lot of the people who are living with this condition, melanoma or other skin cancers, don’t know it,” he said. “They’re busy. It hasn’t even occurred to them.”
He added, “I just really wanted those people to hear an example of someone like me who decided to go in and get checked and then get that bad news, but then very quickly thereafter get the good news that there was still, thank God, plenty of time to really do something about it and live a normal life after a relatively small procedure.”
A Message of Prevention
Benson acknowledges that prevention isn’t always convenient. “Whether it’s sunscreen, staying out of the sun, making an appointment… all of those inconveniences are inconveniences,” he said. “But the alternative is worse. This is one of the most treatable and curable cancers if caught early.”
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RELATED: Is Your Sunscreen Strong Enough?
He’s now lending his voice to skin cancer awareness—not just as a public figure, but as someone who’s lived it.
“It’s sort of weird to think of myself as a survivor,” Benson said. “I guess I qualify. But if I can help encourage even a tiny number of people to go out and make an appointment, then it’s worth it.”
Helping You Navigate Skin Cancer and Prevention
- 3 Skin Cancer Myths, Busted: Can One Bad Sun Burn Cause Cancer?
- Cancer-Causing Chemical Found in Banana Boat Sunscreen Leads to Recall; How to Select the Right Sunscreen for Your Skin
- A Melanoma Vaccine for Metastatic Patients
- Yes, People Of Color Get Skin Cancer, And It Can Be Deadlier: These Sunscreens Are Made Specifically For Darker Skin Tones
- Choose the Right Sunscreen and Use it Often
A Precise Approach to Skin Cancer Treatment
Benson says the procedure he underwent to treat his early-stage melanoma was not Mohs surgery. However, this treatment approach is another way to treat skin cancer on delicate, high-risk areas like the face, ears, and nose. This meticulous technique—known as Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS)—uses microscopic guidance to remove cancerous tissue layer by layer, ensuring that only affected areas are excised while preserving as much healthy skin as possible.
“There are some institutions where MOHS micrographic surgery is performed, but the standard of treatment and, perhaps, the gold standard for treatment of melanoma is actually a surgical treatment with wide margins. Those margins are – they’re predicated based on how deep the melanoma is,” Dr. Nima Gharavi, Director of Dermatologic Surgery and Mohs Micrographic Surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, explains to SurvivorNet.
WATCH: The best surgery option for melanoma.
It’s especially effective for treating common skin cancers like basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.
During the procedure, the area is numbed with a local anesthetic. The surgeon carefully removes the visible tumor with a scalpel and immediately examines the tissue under a microscope. If cancer cells remain, the process is repeated—one layer at a time—until all cancerous cells are gone.
This methodical approach offers high cure rates, particularly when cancers are caught early, and minimizes scarring for sensitive, visible areas of the body.
Spotting Skin Cancer
You should check your body for unusual spots or moles at least once a month. Any new spots or changes in size or color demand your attention.
Changes to a mole you’ve had for a while or a new growth on your skin could be signs of melanoma, according to SurvivorNet’s experts. Though these marks are unlikely to be cancerous, you’ll want to keep an eye on them and inform your doctor about any changes you notice.
WATCH: When checking for melanoma, remember your ABCDEs
Melanoma is most likely to develop on sun-exposed skin, such as the face, neck, arms, and legs. Surprisingly, it might also develop in places that have never been exposed to the sun, such as the palms of your hands or soles of your feet, your eyes or mouth, or under your nails.
SurvivorNet experts describe melanoma symptoms as:
- A sore that doesn’t heal
- Color that spreads from the border of a spot to the skin around it
- Redness or swelling that goes beyond the area of a mole.
- Itchiness, tenderness, or pain
- A change in the way the surface of a mole looks.
- Scaliness, oozing, or blood
Tips to Protect Your Skin from Skin Cancer
As many of us enjoy spending lots of time in the sun during the spring and summer, we must remember that the sun can harm us. For most people, there are simple ways to significantly reduce their risk of developing skin cancer.
Dermatologist Dr. Dendy Engelman offers five ways to protect your skin from cancer. Most of her recommendations are simple to follow and could save your life.
WATCH: How to protect your skin from skin cancer.
Her simple tips include:
- Avoid the sun during peak hours, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. If you are outside during those hours, protect yourself from harmful sun rays.
- Cover your skin and eyes. A wide-brim hat and sunglasses will protect your face, the top of your head, your ears, and the delicate skin around your eyes.
- Wear an SPF of 30 or higher. Dr. Engelman also recommends reapplying every few hours or after excessive sweating or swimming.
- Get an annual skin check. You can check your skin for anything that looks out of the ordinary, but you should still get a yearly check to ensure you don’t miss anything. If you notice anything unusual between checks, schedule an appointment to talk to your doctor.
- Avoid tanning beds.
If you feel like you’re just too pale, Dr. Engelman recommends a sunless tanner. “There’s absolutely no benefit to going to a tanning bed,” Dr. Engelman said.
WATCH: Melanoma treatment options
People with Darker Skin Complexions Also Face Skin Cancer Risks
A rare form of melanoma called acral lentiginous melanoma (ALM) impacted Bob Marley. According to research published in the medical journal Neoplasia, acral melanoma “arises on the non-hair-bearing skin of the nail bed, palms of the hand and soles of the feet” and is not linked to sun ultraviolet (UV) light like other skin cancers.
This rare subtype of melanoma is more common among people of Black, Hispanic/Latin, and Asian descent. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says, “Non-Hispanic Black people are often diagnosed with melanoma at later stages, and the predominant histologic types of melanomas that occur in non-Hispanic Black people have poorer survival rates than the most common types among non-Hispanic white people.
Questions to Ask Your Doctor
If you are diagnosed with skin cancer, you may have some questions for your doctor. SurvivorNet suggests the following to help you on your cancer journey.
- What type of skin cancer do I have?
- What treatment options exist for my specific cancer?
- Will insurance cover this treatment?
- Would treatment through a clinical trial make sense to me?
- What resources exist to help manage my anxiety because of this diagnosis?
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
