Patient Story - Morgan England

When typical is not typical.

In July 2021, Morgan England noticed a small spot on her arm that had changed recently and was now slightly raised off her skin. Morgan waited until her annual dermatology appointment to ask her doctor about the mole. Her doctor didn't seem concerned, saying the mole appeared typical and to return if there were any additional changes. Morgan scheduled an appointment with her dermatologist who told her the same thing, that the mole looked normal. A few weeks later her mole began bleeding and she called her dermatologist to set up an appointment to have the mole removed. One week after her mole was removed, she recieved a call from her dermatologist telling her she had stage II melanoma. 

You are your own advocate.

Morgan knew she had cancer but she was confused why her doctor wanted her to have surgery and why they needed to check her lymph nodes. After her initial diagnosis, she spent the weekend doing research and learned it's not as easy as just removing the cancer.  Melanoma is one of the most metastatic cancers in existence and it can become deadly in as little as 12 weeks. Her spot had been there and been changing for at least four months. 

Through her own research she found a test called DecisionDx-Melanoma that could give her an idea of what her cancer looked like and how serious it was. On Monday morning she called her doctor and asked her doctor to send her biopsy to Castle Biosciences immediately.

When Morgan's test results came back, her biopsy was reported as a Class 2A, which signifies moderate risk. She also had a 20 percent chance that her sentinel lymph node biopsy would be positive. From diagnosis to surgery, Morgan only waited 10 days. Morgan is currently doing well and is taking medication to prevent her cancer from spreading. 

She urges others who have been diagnosed with melanoma or who have a suspisious spot to call your dermatologist immediately and ask for it to be removed.