Eyewitness News' Sam Champion shares his skin cancer treatment journey
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- Eyewitness News' Sam Champion is back at work after a lengthy surgery for skin cancer.
Viewers have been following his journey on social media where he has been answering a lot of questions.
He's been trying to raise awareness and urging others to get checked. Champion said his goal, is to make sure that someone wouldn't be surprised by skin cancer.
First, you need to have a good dermatologist and be looking at and checking your skin regularly.
Despite Champion doing those things, skin cancer was discovered on his face.
Champion went to see Dr. Anthony Rossi, Dermatologist and Mohs surgeon at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center after the doctor he had been seeing since the 1980s retired.
He said it took a bit of trial and error but he wanted to find the right doctor because it's going to be a "lifelong relationship."
"I agree with you," Dr. Rossi said.
"These are the people who know my skin. They're looking at it at least once a year," Champion said. "Any place I see that I don't like I'm showing to them. We came in to do one particular spot and to me, it was a very small spot."
These skin cancers can grow like icebergs.Dr. Anthony Ross, Dermatologist and Mohs surgeon, MSKCC
"They actually, these skin cancers can grow like icebergs," Dr. Rossi said. "So, sometimes we only see the tip of the iceberg, you know, on top of the skin, and then as we go down and cut through, we actually see it get wider or deeper."
Doctors often aren't sure how deep the skin cancer goes until they get in there.
"In the Mohs procedure, you can cut an edge and examine it," he said. "Mohs is a technique of surgery where we not only do, we cut it out, but we actually look at it under the microscope in real-time while you're waiting and we can actually track the margins and look at it in the depth, but also the periphery, so we could take the minimalist amount of skin and leave all the healthy skin behind."
The goal is to get all of the cancer out and leave nothing behind.
"We just want to get out the cancer, and especially in these critical areas like where you had it, underneath your eye, we want to preserve as much tissue as possible, because that tissue means something, because you need to blink, you need to move your eye, and we want it to look aesthetically, but also functionally perfect," Dr. Rossi said.
MSKCC says that Mohs surgery can be recommended for squamous cell carcinomas or basal cell skin carcinomas that are:
- located in sensitive areas where it's critical to preserve as much skin as possible, such as the face, scalp, hands, or genital area
- large in size
- growing quickly
Most people have an idea of what they think skin cancer is, but it can also be dozens of other things.
I want you to be prepared for it. I want you to have knowledge so that you're never surprised.Sam Champion
Champion shared that his first experience with skin cancer was at age 26. "As you get older it's more noticeable, but my first one was at 26," he said. "I want you to be prepared for it. I want you to have knowledge so that you're never surprised."
You can see more of Sam's journey here:
https://www.instagram.com/samchampion/?hl=en
Skin Cancer: Types and treatments
Skin cancer is an abnormal growth of skin cells that is usually caused by sun exposure, according to the American Academy of Dermatology Association. Caught early, it's highly treatable.
Common types of skin cancer
Basal cell carcinoma
Squamous cell carcinoma
Melanoma
Merkel cell carcinoma
Dermatofibrosarcoma a protuberans
Sebaceous cell carcinoma
Talk to a dermatologist
Understand what a dermatologist can do for you
Select a doctor
Protect your skin from the sun
According to the American Academy of Dermatology Association, "protecting your skin from the sun can reduce your risk of developing skin cancer, sunburn, and premature skin aging like age spots, sagging, and wrinkles. If you've had skin cancer, sun protection can reduce your risk of getting another skin cancer."
Shade, clothing, and sunscreen
Sun damage and your skin
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