Welsh MP says skin cancer has returned

Emily Price

Rhondda MP Chris Bryant has revealed he will face two years of cancer treatment after being diagnosed with a melanoma in his lung.

The Labour MP posted a video to social media on Monday morning (May 13) in a bid to raise awareness of the disease for melanoma month.

Five years ago Mr Bryant’s husband spotted “an odd looking mole” on the back of his head which turned out to be a late stage melanoma – a particularly vicious form of skin cancer.

He was given a 40 per cent chance of living more than a year but thanks to targeted therapy his chances were dramatically improved.

The Welsh MP said that for the last five years he’s had regular scans which all came back clear.

Some personal news. pic.twitter.com/pUZlxkF3Gc

— Chris Bryant (@RhonddaBryant) May 13, 2024

Immunotherapy

But on his birthday in January, he received the terrible news that what should have been the last scan indicated a melanoma in his right lung.

Mr Bryant said: “Two weeks later I was in a hospitals bed. They put a robot in my right lung, they cut the little bit out and it did turn out to be a melanoma in my lung – not lung cancer, but skin cancer in my lung.

“In years gone by that might have been a death sentence. But thanks to immunotherapy which I’m now on, my chances of being completely cancer free in ten or fifteen years time are really really good, so that’s brilliant.”

‘Tough’

The Labour MP says the immunotherapy is “tough” although “not as tough as chemotherapy”.

He says he has “every hope” of being completely “cancer free” for the rest of his life.

Mr Bryant added that everyone should “take skin cancer seriously” and always get moles checked out by a doctor “if you’re in doubt”.

He said skin damage “can be avoided” and urged people to always “cover up and use high factor sun cream”.

Signing off his social media video, he said: “We can save ourselves from skin cancer. Let’s do it.”

He also shared an image in the comments section of the mole which appeared on the back of his head when he was first diagnosed with cancer.

Speaking during a Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission charity debate in 2019 the Welsh MP suggested the UK Government scrap VAT on suncream as a means to cut skin cancer.