YouTuber Ninja announces he's been diagnosed with cancer
Popular gaming YouTuber Ninja, also known as Tyler Blevins, has announced to his fans that he has been diagnosed with cancer.
The 32-year-old took to Twitter to make the announcement and said it had fortunately been caught early.
He wrote: "Alright I’m still in a bit of shock but want to keep you all updated. A few weeks ago I went in to a dermatologist for an annual skin/mole check that Jess proactively scheduled for me.
"There was a mole on the bottom of my foot that they wanted to remove just to be careful.
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"It came back as melanoma, but they are optimistic that we caught it in the early stages.
"I had another dark spot appear near it, so today they biopsied that and removed a larger area around the melanoma with the hopes that under the microscope they will see clear non-melanoma edges and we will know we got it.
"I’m grateful to have hope in finding this early, but please take this as a PSA to get skin checkups."
The health experts among you may already know that melanoma is a type of skin cancer which can spread to other parts of the body.
The main cause of melanoma is exposure to ultraviolet light from sources such as the sun and sunbeds.
Age, paleness of skin, moles and a family history of the disease are all contributing factors in the potential development of skin cancer.
The most common treatment for melanoma is surgery, but treatments vary depending on how widespread the cancer is and whether it has spread to other parts of the body.
However, the link between sunlight and melanoma on the foot, an area of the body which is usually far less exposed to UV, is unclear.
The popular YouTuber was flooded with messages of support as many wanted to wish Ninja well with his recovery.
Plenty said they were 'praying for you' and hoping for the most positive outcome in this situation.
Many others praised Blevins' wife, Jessica, for scheduling a checkup for him, and she commented that had the couple not moved to Florida she might not have 'started scheduling annual skin checkups'.
Given the lack of connection between melanoma on the foot and sunlight it might not have been caught.
Plenty echoed Ninja's message to get regular checkups, as the only way something like cancer is going to be caught early is if it's being checked for at all.
Joe Harker