Jason Clare urges checks on suspicious moles after cancer surgery
A western Sydney MP was left with 52 stitches and had to take leave from parliament after a cancerous mole had to be cut out.
The Express
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Federal politician Jason Clare is urging everyone not to be complacent about moles on their skin, saying if he had not checked out his mole, his cancer could have spread.
The Blaxland federal Labor MP is hoping residents get any suspicious moles checked before its too late.
Mr Clare, 47, took leave from parliament for two weeks in September, following surgery on his left leg, which had 52 stitches.
“I’m so glad I got that check and I was lucky to catch it early,” said Mr Clare, who has been in parliament since 2007.
“I urge everyone to get a skin check.
“I had taken pictures of the mole earlier and when the colour changed, I went to see a dermatologist shortly after the (2019 federal) election.
“The mole was removed, and the pathology tests showed I had malignant melanoma.
“There’s nothing scarier than when your doctor tells you you’ve got the C word, but if I hadn’t been checked and had those pathology tests I wouldn’t have known.
“The cancer could have kept growing and potentially spread.”
Unlike many others, Mr Clare also got to meet the pathologist, Dr Peter Bullpitt, who diagnosed the malignant melanoma after examining the mole.
Dr Bullpitt, who works at Kossard Dermatopathologists at Macquarie Park, said, if a doctor is concerned about a skin lesion, they recommend the whole lesion is removed, if it is practical to do so.
“This is then sent to the pathology laboratory and we identify if there is melanoma present anywhere in the lesion and take measurements,” Dr Bullpitt said.
“Sometimes with a melanoma, removing that first mole or lesion is all that’s needed.
“When we measure the depth of the melanoma that helps give a prognosis and determine if further surgery or other treatment might be needed.”
Mr Clare said he was grateful to the pathologists and the doctors who treated him.
He said melanoma is something that could happen to anyone because it even reaches places where the sun does not touch.
According to Cancer Australia, there will more than 15,000 cases of melanoma diagnosed this year, with more males than females.