Twitch Streamer Ninja Diagnosed With Skin Cancer at 32: ‘In a Bit of Shock’

Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins, the most-followed creator on Twitch, has revealed he’s been diagnosed with skin cancer at age 32.

via Complex:

On X, the Twitch influencer and video game enthusiast shared a statement about the diagnosis, admitting that he was “still in a bit of shock.”

“A few weeks ago I went in to a dermatologist for an annual skin/mole check that Jess [Blevins] proactively scheduled for me. There was a mole on the bottom of my foot that they wanted to remove just to be careful. It came back as melanoma, but they are optimistic that we caught it in the early stages,” Blevins wrote.

He continued, “I had another dark spot appear near it, so today they biopsied that and removed a larger area around the melanoma with the hopes that under the microscope they will see clear non-melanoma edges and we will know we got it. I’m grateful to have hope in finding this early, but please take this as a PSA to get skin checkups.”

According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, the two main causes of skin cancer are exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays (UV) and tanning beds. If detected early, skin cancer can be treated with little to no scarring, with the likelihood of being eliminated entirely during the precancerous stage.

In addition to his 19 million Twitch followers, Blevins has a following of 24 million on YouTube. In 2009, Blevins jumpstarted his online career as a Halo 3 player, and nearly ten years later, he began partaking in professional Fortnite tournaments.

By going public with his diagnosis, he likely encouraged a bunch of young people to get checked for skin cancer.