THE GOLDEN GLOBE WINNER, 65, WAS RECENTLY PHOTOGRAPHED IN WEST HOLLYWOOD WITH A LONG, JAGGED MARK ON THE LEFT SIDE OF HER CHEEK. ALTHOUGH MELANIE HAS NOT COMMENTED ON THE RUMORS, A SOURCE CLOSE TO THE SITUATION REVEALED, “PEOPLE CLOSE TO HER ARE CONCERNED THAT SHE EXPERIENCED A RECURRENCE OF THE SKIN CANCER THAT LED TO THE NEED FOR MORE SURGERY BECAUSE SHE HAS A HISTORY OF DEALING WITH THE DISEASE.”  SINCE 2009, THE VETERAN ACTRESS, BEST KNOWN FOR HER ROLE IN WORKING GIRL, HAS UNDERGONE MANY SKIN CANCER SURGERIES.

SHE WAS ALSO SEEN WITH A BANDAGE ON HER NOSE FIVE YEARS AGO, AFTER A PROCEDURE TO REMOVE A POTENTIALLY MALIGNANT GROWTH.“THE LIKELIHOOD OF THIS TYPE OF OPERATION BEING FOR A SKIN CANCER IS OVERWHELMING,” SAID DR. GABE MIRKIN OF FLORIDA, WHO HAS NOT TREATED MELANIE BUT HAS COMMENTED ON HER CASE.HE EXPLAINED THAT BASAL CELL SKIN CANCERS, THE MOST COMMON TYPE OF THE CONDITION AND TYPICALLY CURABLE, ACCOUNT FOR 95 PERCENT OF ALL CASES. WHEN THE DISEASE IS IN ITS EARLY STAGES, WHEN THE GROWTHS ARE ONLY ON THE SURFACE, A SURGEON CAN EASILY REMOVE THE CONDITION.

NEVERTHELESS, MIRKIN WARNED, “WHEN THE SKIN CANCER IS LOCATED AROUND THE EARS, NOSE, EYES, OR MOUTH, THE DISEASE HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BURROW UNDERNEATH THE SKIN; HENCE, ADDITIONAL SURGERY IS REQUIRED.”“THE GENERAL NORM IS TO CONTINUE MAKING INCISIONS UNTIL THERE ARE NO MORE CASES OF SKIN CANCER IN THE SPECIMENS THAT HAVE BEEN TAKEN. AS A RESULT, THIS WAS A RATHER LENGTHY OPERATION,” HE EXPLAINED HIS CASE.“IF THIS WERE A SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA, WHICH IS A DIFFERENT TYPE OF CANCER THAT IS LESS COMMON, YOU COULD KEEP CUTTING UNTIL YOU HAVE PERFECTLY NORMAL SKIN 360 DEGREES AROUND IT,” THE DOCTOR SAID. “THIS IS DUE TO THE RARITY OF SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMAS.”MELANIE HAS PREVIOUSLY ADVISED HER FOLLOWERS TO PROTECT THEMSELVES FROM THE SUN’S ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION.