Australians urged to ‘be all over melanoma’ on 30 January

Established by Melbourne couple Peter and Julie Mansell, whose 25 year old daughter Morgan passed away after a short battle with melanoma in 2018 and now driven by The Alfred, Check for Spots Day is held annually on 30 January to coincide with Morgan’s birthday, and the end of the summer holidays. 

As part of the campaign, specialists at The Alfred, an Australian leader in melanoma treatment and care, are wanting to reduce the devastating impacts of skin cancers by encouraging the community to check themselves and each other for suspicious spots.

Head of the Victoria Melanoma Service at The Alfred, A/Prof Victoria Mar, says self-monitoring is the easiest way to ensure you are ‘spot safe’ and promote early detection.

“No one knows your skin like you do,” said A/Prof Mar.

“The simplest approach is to look out for significant change in size, shape or colour, and ‘ugly ducklings’ – those moles that don’t look like the ones around them.”

“Other key things to look out for are asymmetry, irregular edges, uneven colour and moles that are larger than 6mm in diameter or that are new and growing.”

“If you’re concerned about any of those characteristics, you should then head to your GP.”

“Over 90% of melanomas will be cured by surgery alone. If you find a spot early the chance of it progressing or spreading is much lower, and can be reduced to zero.”

For Peter, the day is about warning others about the dangers of melanoma.

“Many people, especially young people, don’t realise they can fall victim to melanoma, but tragically that’s what happened to Morgan,” said Peter.

Peter says it’s easy to have an ‘it’ll be fine’ attitude and delay getting a spot checked, but that keeping on top of your skin can save your life.

“Morgan developed a mole on the top of her left ear, which turned out to be a 1.5mm melanoma.”

“There’s just no way we would have thought we would lose her within 12 months.”

“Morgan was a smart, independent woman who travelled the world, completed a double degree with a triple major, and was treasured by her family and friends.

Peter remembers his daughter as an inspiration to seriously ill people around the world through her frank and candid discussions about her health and battle with melanoma on her blog, dontmswithmorgs.com

“Before Morgan was so sadly taken from us, she had been passionate about helping others, and this is our way of continuing that work for her.”

Check for Spots Day is on 30 January.