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Dick Vitale reveals cancer scare

Dick Vitale
Posted at 4:56 PM, Aug 19, 2021
and last updated 2021-08-19 17:56:20-04

Veteran basketball announcer Dick Vitale revealed Thursday he was treated for skin cancer.

In a post on ESPNFrontRow.com, Vitale said he and his wife were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in Hawaii when he got the news.

"I was riding high," Vitale says on the website. "Then came the scary news: a diagnosis that some skin they removed from above my nose had tested positive for melanoma. My heart sank."

Vitale writes that he had the growth surgically removed in late June.

"The bottom line is they removed all cancer cells, and I was relieved, big time, to be cancer clear," Vitale said.

The broadcaster said he has undergone additional procedures to "sew up the area on my face."

The 82-year-old encourages anyone who spots a suspicious mole or growth to get it checked out.

The Centers for Disease Control says skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the U.S.