Melanie Griffith's Pals Concerned Cancer Has Returned After Actress Is Spotted With Fresh Scar On Left Cheek

The Golden Globe winner, 65, was recently caught on camera in West Hollywood with a long, jagged mark on her left cheek. Though Melanie hasn't addressed the speculation, an insider spilled, "She's had some issues with skin cancer in the not-too-distant past, and people around her worry she had a recurrence that required more surgery.

The aging Working Girl actress has had multiple surgeries since 2009 for skin cancers, and five years ago, she was spotted with a bandage on her nose after getting a procedure to remove a dangerous growth.

Florida-based Dr. Gabe Mirkin, who hasn't treated Melanie, said, "The odds are overwhelming that this type of surgery was for a skin cancer."

He explained basal cell skin cancers, which are usually curable, account for 95 percent of all cases of the condition and can be easy for a surgeon to remove in the disease's early stage when growths are solely on the surface.

However, Mirkin warned, "When the skin cancer is around the ears, the nose, the eyes and the mouth, the cancer can burrow underneath the skin, so more surgery is necessary.

"The rule is to keep on cutting until you find no more skin cancer in the specimens removed. So, this was an extensive surgery," he claimed.

"If this were a squamous cell carcinoma — a different type of cancer, which is less common — it is acceptable to keep on cutting until you find that you have completely normal skin 360 degrees around it."

In the past, Melanie has urged fans to protect themselves from UV rays.

"If you lay in the sun, are exposed to lots of sun, be CAREFUL. Use sunscreen. Get checked out by your dermatologist," she stated.

Melanie is only 65 years old. She has three kids — daughters including actress Dakota Johnson, 33, Stella Banderas, 26, and son Alexander Bauer, 37.

RadarOnline.com has reached out to Melanie's rep for comment.