Single father-of-three's warning after deadly skin cancer discovered in his ear

When a seven-year-old told Alexander Gupman a spot on his ear looked "funny", the father-of-three dismissed it, passing it off as the same spot that had been there for years.

However, after missing his yearly skin check due to COVID-19 and after a second person pointed out the unusual spot, the 47-year-old from Maryland, USA, decided to get a second opinion on the mole-like growth on the cartilage near his left ear canal.

After taking a photo of his ear, Gupman, who is a single father, realised the growth had grown bigger, and even had started to bleed. After sending it to his dermatologist, he was scheduled for an immediate biopsy, revealing his diagnosis of stage 3 melanoma.

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"What I've learned is that if someone says something looks funny on your skin, you really should get it checked out," Gupman told Today. "People need to take it seriously."

After his diagnosis, doctors set out to remove the skin cancer. Gupman underwent surgery to remove the spot from his ear, as well as some lymph nodes that had been affected.

After the surgery, which he said was "absolutely amazing," Gupman was left with an 18mm hole in his year, which doctors later rebuilt using skin from his left leg, and no feeling in the left side of his face after a nerve was nicked during the operation.

Gupman now receives immunotherapy as well as undergoing scans every three months. Because he has a higher chance of the cancer reoccurring, he will receive frequent skin checks for the rest of his life.

Although he had always been "extremely religious" about applying sunscreen, Gupman admits he'd never thought about applying to his ears, adding although he'd had moles removed from his body before, the biopsies had never come back as something sinister.

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"I for some reason just never thought of the ear as something you needed to protect," he reasoned. "I never got sunburned on my ears."

According to the Cancer Council Australia, there was an 11 per cent increase of all cancer diagnoses across the board, with approximately 16,221 new cases of melanoma of the skin diagnosed in 2020.

Dr Priya Chagan, GM of Health Services and Chief Medical Officer of TAL, previously told 9Honey the lack of people getting skin checks was "alarming".

"It's really important to be familiar with your skin — so perform regular skin checks on yourself at home," she said.

"COVID has taught us, since retreating back into their home, that we have more time to prioritise our health and make things like a skin check a monthly routine."