"Woman, 24, Thought Spot Under Eye was a Pimple — It Turned Out to be Skin Cancer"
About a year ago, Gibson Miller noticed a tiny spot under her left eye. The pink blemish looked like a pimple, but it never went away. She was worried, so she went to the dermatologist for a skin check. Her instinct was right: She had a stage 1 basal cell carcinoma. Since Miller was 9 she played tennis and continued through high school and most of college, which meant she “was constantly outside.” While she started using sunscreen her senior year of high school, she admits that she wasn’t always consistent. Dr. James Chelnis, an ophthalmologist at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, who treated Miller, said he often sees patients who have cancer near their eyes because they forget to protect them. “Around the eyes, you are not typically putting a heavy dose of sunblock and it is exposed,” he said. “It is true that a hat and sunglasses do help. But, it is important to pick the right sunblock.”
— James Chelnis, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor, Medical Education, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Ophthalmology, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai
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