A dad who went to the doctor with what he thought was a scratch on his back was told it was skin cancer and 0.1mm away from spreading to the rest of his body.
Stefano Biagini visited his GP in Whitstable after discovering a suspicious mole on his back but the cancer was just moments away from reaching his lymph nodes and becoming potentially fatal.
Doctors then carried out a painful biopsy on the 56-year-old which also saw him injected with radioactive tracers to see how far the cancer had spread.
It was soon confirmed Mr Biagini had malignant melanoma – the most serious form of skin cancer.
However, the diagnosis proved to be life-saving in the nick of time for the University of Kent lecturer.
“They said the melanoma was 1.9mm, so I was 0.1mm away from the cancer hitting my lymphatic system which could have spread it around my body,” the organic chemistry scientist said.
“I had worked on this type of radioactive tracers so it was a little bit of a full circle for me.”
Stefano underwent his treatment at Kent & Canterbury Hospital, KIMS Hospital in Maidstone, as well as Ashford’s William Harvey Hospital, Ashford.
Surgeons were able to cut away the cancerous area on his back and help Mr Biagini avoid chemotherapy.
Red-haired Stefano insists his diagnosis was likely due to him being exposed to a lot of sun as a child while growing up in Italy.
“My mum did her best to protect me, making me sit under sun umbrellas and wear hats,” he added.
“But there wasn’t the same awareness of sun damage or the kind of sun creams there are now, so I’m sure a lot of damage was done then.
“So getting skin cancer wasn’t entirely unexpected. I’d seen other people go through critical illnesses and I just resigned myself to the fact that it was my turn.
“It made me commit to not wasting whatever life I still had in front of me.”
‘I had worked on this type of radioactive tracers so it was a little bit of a full circle for me…’
After treatment, Stefano suffered from fatigue but slowly rebuilt his fitness and three months later he completed a park run.
He has also signed up for the world’s largest annual fundraising swimming event called Swimathon at Whitstable Swimming Pool in Tower Parade on the final weekend of the month.
The event is taking place at several pools across Kent.
Cancer Research UK spokesperson for Kent, Lynn Daly, said: “Thanks to the generosity and commitment of supporters like Stefano, our scientists have played a role in around half of the world’s essential cancer drugs, led the development of chemotherapy and radiotherapy and paved the way for targeted treatments.
“But with nearly one in two people diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, we must go further and faster.”
Stefano added: “Swimathon is a fun and simple way to get swimming. It doesn’t matter if you’re not the fittest or the fastest. I hope swimmers, young and old, grab their costumes to help thousands of people.”
