Hugh Jackman on his Skin Cancer Scare, Advises Fans to 'USE Sunscreen'

Hugh Jackman shared a scary photo on Instagram that came with a warning. He posted a photo where he had a bandaged nose and warned his followers about the dangers of skin cancer, E! News reported.

The 45-year-old actor revealed to his 231,000 Instagram followers about his skin cancer scare on his face on his Instagram account on Thursday, Nov. 21.

"Deb said to get the mark on my nose checked. Boy, was she right! I had a [basal] cell carcinoma," the X-men star wrote. "Please don't be foolish like me. Get yourself checked. And USE sunscreen!!!"

Jackman joins a number of celebrities who have revealed their own skin cancer scare. The list includes Eric Dane, Ewan McGregor, Anderson Cooper and Bruce Jenner.

"It's all sun damage from the '60s and '50s when I was competitively water-skiing and living on a lake and all my training outside," Jenner told E! News in September. "Nobody wears sunblock back then. I first had one here," he pointed to his cheek, "just a little red spot. It's a basal-cell carcinoma, which is a-basically it is a skin cancer, because it doesn't heal."

According to the Mayo Clinic, basal cell carcinoma is a common form of skin cancer. It often manifests as a waxy bump or sore which can be attributed to long-term exposure to radiation from the sun.

Basal cell carcinoma rarely spreads, however, if left untreated it can cause disfigurement.

It is the most common type of cancer in the U.S., according to the National Institutes of Health.  The Skin Cancer Foundation approximates that there are 2.8 million cases of BCC diagnosed each year in the U.S.

Treatments usually include surgery or tools to remove the cancer from the body, freezing off the cancer or applying topical treatments, Mayo Clinic reported.