YouTuber Ninja was diagnosed with skin cancer at the age of 32

Tyler Richard Blevins, The popular YouTuber and streamer who goes by the name Ninja announced on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday that he has been diagnosed with a form of skin cancer.

In the PositionBlevins, 32, shared that he went to a dermatologist a few weeks ago after his wife Jessica made an appointment for a mole check. According to Blevins, who said he was “still in a bit of shock,” the doctor found a mole on the bottom of his leg that he wanted to remove, “just to be careful,” he wrote. Further tests confirmed that the mole was melanoma.

“I had another dark spot appear near it, so today they biopsied it and removed a larger area around the melanoma in hopes that under the microscope they'll see clear edges without melanoma and we'll know we have it,” Blevins wrote . “I'm grateful to hopefully find it early, but please take this as a PSA to get skin tests done.”

Blevins has approximately 19 million followers on Twitch, the gaming platform, making him among the most followed streamers on the platform. He is probably best known for Fortnite, the online video game popular with children. Although he briefly left Twitch in 2019 to stream exclusively on Microsoft's Mixer platform, he returned to Twitch when Mixer shut down in 2020, signing a multi-year exclusivity deal with Website.

Melanoma is a form of skin cancer caused by exposure to UV radiation, with more than one million Americans living with the condition today. according at the American Academy of Dermatology. About 100,000 new cases are diagnosed annually. It is usually treated with surgery unless it has spread, in which case patients can sometimes receive chemotherapy.

Although the risk of melanoma increases with age, it is not uncommon in adults in their 20s and 30s and is one of the most common types of cancer in young people. according at the American Cancer Society. is recommended that adults at increased risk for the condition, such as those with fair skin, should be checked at least once a year by a dermatologist.