Hairstylists learn to spot possible skin cancers

Twelve years ago, when Glenda Van Rey settled into a chair at Roger’s HairCraft in Lakeville, New York, her stylist, Roger Least, spotted a flesh-colored, shiny spot the size of a nickel behind her right ear. He suggested she have a doctor check it out.

She did. Twice. And both times when Van Rey went back to Least for hair appointments and relayed different, relatively minor diagnoses, Least wasn’t buying it.

The third time, a biopsy was done, and it showed Rey had an aggressive form of melanoma.

“I know today that I probably would have died, if not for Roger,” said Van Rey, 75, who required multiple surgeries and skin grafts before she was ultimately declared cancer-free.

Van Rey’s story is not uncommon, according to Sandra Allten, a clinical research oncology nurse at AdventHealth Daytona Beach Cancer Institute in Florida.

Allten is spearheading an online campaign that trains hairdressers to spot potentially cancerous moles on their clients’ heads. Through the Hairdresser Melanoma Challenge, she now hopes to enlist thousands of stylists in the fight against skin cancer, the most common cancer worldwide.

Eyes on Cancer, an organization that trains beauty and wellness professionals to notice potential trouble spots, allowed the Hairdresser Melanoma Challenge to use the 20-minute video they had created to help hairdressers and others.

“Early detection and prevention is critical,” said Allten. The survival rate for melanoma if caught at Stage 1 is about 99%.