ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced Thursday that she has skin cancer.
The governor made the announcement following a press conference in New York on Thursday.
The governor said the discovery was made during a routine check up.
"My doctor discovered a basal cell carcinoma, a tiny, tiny check on my nose. You can't even see it. But, in excess of precaution," she said.
"I encourage everyone to make sure that they do get regular checkups and follow through. I'm gonna have a small removal procedure. I'm not going under. It's a local anesthesia. It'll be occurring Friday morning. I'll be back to work about an hour later. Uh, but there will be a bandage on my nose."
Hochul said she wanted to talk about her experience so everyone is cautious about their health. "This is an opportunity for me to talk about this because, I want everyone to be so cautious. There's about six million diagnoses a day from the CDC. And I wanna make sure that everybody's smart about this and use your suntan lotion. Make sure your kids are protected," she said.
Basal cell carcinoma impacts millions of Americans every year.
"It's not particularly dangerous. It seems like it was caught very early because she describes it as being very small. And these are actually very common. It's the most common type of skin cancer," says Dr. Kimberly Brady with Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Dr. Kimberly Brady is the Director of Dermatologic Surgery at Roswell. She is also an Associate Professor of Oncology. She says this type of cancer does not tend to spread to other parts of the body.
"They are cancer though, so if you don't treat them, they will continue to grow," said Dr. Kimberly Brady.
Dr. Brady talked with us about the standard of care treatment for this type of skin cancer.
"I'm a Mohs surgeon, so I'm assuming based on what she's describing that that's what she's having done. It involves just local anesthesia, so just numbing up the area without putting her to sleep. The doctor would remove the area surgically, check it underneath the microscope while she's still waiting, make sure that she has clear margins, and then once the margins are clear, then would stitch her nose back," said Dr. Kimberly Brady.
She says after it heals, it would leave a scar that wouldn't be very noticeable, and the outlook for the future, is usually really good.
"These have a very high cure rate with having Mohs surgery, so also likely something that should not recur in the future. Once you do have one skin cancer diagnosed though, you are likely to develop other skin cancers in the future, so it would be more common that she could develop other skin cancers, although might not have recurrence in this particular one on her nose," said Dr. Kimberly Brady.
The Governor is having the procedure done Friday morning.
Dr. Brady says if you're concerned about spots, you should ask your doctor to check your skin for you. She says fair skinned people who've had a lot of sun exposure are at a higher risk and you should wear sunscreen to protect yourself.
