After doctor told her mole was 'nothing to worry about'

Katherine Ryan has revealed she has been diagnosed with skin cancer for a second time.

The comedian says she recently had a cancerous mole on her arm removed, and will have a further procedure next week to ensure it is all gone.

The 41-year was first diagnosed with cancer in 2004 when she was a student in Toronto, having a ‘golf ball-sized’ lump taken out of her thigh as a result.

This time around, she said a doctor had initially dismissed her concerns, but tests showed the mole was early melanoma.

Speaking on her Telling Everybody Everything podcast, Ryan said: ‘It's really easy to take a diagnosis of "You're healthy" and just walk away... and you don't think about it again. But the mole kept changing.’

Following a second appointment, a test was ordered that confirmed her suspicions, but the doctor told her it had been caught ‘very early, so I highly doubt that it has spread’.

The comedian added: ‘It just feels crazy to me what could have happened if I hadn't been my own advocate - and I will continue to be my own advocate. If I hadn't pushed.I would have had melanoma growing and spreading in my arm.

'If you know about melanoma, you'll know it is a deadly form of skin cancer. It does spread quickly, and I just felt like this mole wasn't right.'

She said she had the mole, which she first had concerns about in 2022, removed at a 'fancy private clinic' in South Kensington, London, and didn't believe the NHS would have done the same.

'It's not ideal to have melanoma twice in your life. I obviously have a genetic predisposition.'

Published: 21 Mar 2025