Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson Has Melanoma

Sarah, Duchess of York, is being treated for malignant melanoma. The announcement was made just six months after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. The Duchess, 64, underwent a single mastectomy and breast reconstruction surgery last summer. When she underwent further reconstruction surgery last month, medics removed several moles, one of which was found to be a malignant melanoma.

She is undergoing further tests to check that the cancer was caught in the early stages and has not spread to other parts of her body. 

“Her dermatologist asked that several moles were removed and analyzed at the same time as the Duchess was undergoing reconstructive surgery following her mastectomy, and one of these has been identified as cancerous,” according to a spokesperson.

Major Ronald Ferguson, the Duchess’s father, was diagnosed with skin cancer just months before his death in March 2003. He had planned to undergo chemotherapy. He also had prostate cancer although he died of a heart attack.

Princess Beatrice, the Duchess’s eldest daughter, is patron of the British Skin Foundation and has worked with skin cancer patients.

The National Institutes of Health estimated that in 2020, the most recent statistics available, there were 325,000 new melanoma cases (174,000 males, 151,000 females) and 57,000 deaths (32,000 males, 25,000 females).

Related Content