Hi,

In answer to your question - yes, something considered non cancerous can become cancerous further down the line but it's usually when a cell has broken off, sat in the surrounding tissue & then started to grow years later. Of course, there is still a chance it's not cancerous. I had a melanoma removed many years ago - 15 years later a lesion appeared next to the scar. It was removed & found to be benign. Doctors take extra precautions & move swifter when a problem occurs close to or on the excision site so that is why your doctor is concerned. 

Has he referred you back to dermatology under the 2 week pathway? If so, he may mark the referral as urgent but it won't necessarily be done within a week - he probably doesn't realise that 2 week referrals are backlogged and some hospitals aren't seeing patients for about 3 or 4 weeks. If you don't yet have an appointment date, give your hospital dermatology a ring & ask if it's likely an appointment will be made for the period you are on holiday. You can then make an informed choice as to whether to go away or not. 

Try not to panic, hopefully you will get an appointment through quickly. Good luck and please let us know how you get on,

Angie (Stage 3 melanoma patient since 2009)

Hi thanks for your reply. He tried to book it on his system and asked if I could go on the 7th to which I said I go on holiday that day. Then he said can you not cancel your holiday? To which I said well is it really that serious? Then he said he would ring me this Friday to see what dates have been released for the week I am back which is the 13th onwards. So he was actually going to book the appointment for me while I was with. She it’s left me feeling so worried because of the sense of urgency he had in his presentation. 

In that case I think he's erring on the side of caution because of it being the biopsy site. Only you can decide if you want to wait until after your holiday. All I can say is, from my personal experience the wait of a week isn't going to make much difference to the chance of spread (if it's a recurrence) but it may mean a lot of difference to whether you enjoy your holiday. Hopefully it turns out to be nothing but only you know if you can deal with the extra week's wait.