John Cena's cancer diagnosis is “sober”. This is what he hoped he had known long ago.
John Cena never thought it would happen to him. But then he got the call – twice. The spots on his skin are cancerous.
Cena's first skin spot was found on his left pectoral muscle during a daily visit to a dermatologist. Delete it immediately and send it for testing. A year later, his second position was noticed on the muscles of his upper left trapezoid.
“I got two calls, ‘Hey, you have to come back because the biopsy came back with cancer,” Senna recalls. “The information was shocking, and it was there to make me change my life.”
The 16-time WWE World Champion is now the face of the new media campaign targeting the Ultra Sheer Face face liquid sunscreen SPF 70, and he says he has been “neglected” to the SPF. But he quickly incorporated sunscreen into his daily routine, calling it a way to show “gratitude” after a cancer panic.
“Skin care is a more delicious and recognized term and subject in women,” he said. Discussions between men may be more difficult to initiate. He thought, but that wasn't that. “Men, especially, are becoming more aware of self-care…I just think we need to make it more common.”
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Cena wants to close the “gender gap” in SPF use
Women are more than twice as likely to wear sunscreen than men, but by the age of 50, men have a greater risk of melanoma than women. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, men of any age are more likely to die from melanoma than women.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), only 12.3% of men – compared with 29.0% of women, women over the age of 18 always use sunny days when they are sunny in 2020 for more than 1 hour. Among the 18-29-year-olds, the percentage of men who always use sunscreen is the lowest (8.2%); among men aged 30-44, the rate rose to 13.7%.
Data from a 2025 survey conducted by Talker Research on behalf of Neutrogena, where 500 Hispanic Americans and 500 general population split evenly, found that almost one-third of respondents never visited dermatologists or health professionals with skin-related examinations and were more likely to wear SPF daily as opposed to men (27%).
“SPF is more common in women's vernacular because it is directly related to beauty,” Senna said.
More young people are suffering from cancer
Many young celebrities recently announced that they have (or have) cancer. James van der Beek. Jenna Fischer. Olivia Munn. Princess Kate. Elle MacPherson. The list continues.
Experts say there is no exact reason for the increase in cancer in young people, but researchers are trying to figure it out. But as a silver lining, despite the increased incidence, people are less likely to die from cancer over the past few decades.
For those who are worried about their own risks – wearing SPF is a good place to start. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, regular use of SPF 15 sunscreen can reduce your risk of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) by about 40% and reduce your risk of melanoma by 50%.
John Cena's Final Advice for Men
He doesn't care why someone is prompted to use SPF (whether for beauty or health) as long as they use it.
“If someone uses SPF because they don’t want wrinkles, like someone goes to the gym and says, ‘I want to be torn.’ But, “being torn” is essentially making healthier choices,” he explains. “So you can go to the gym for aesthetic purposes, but the rewards of training are more than aesthetic beauty. I think SPF is in the same lane.”
Cena knows that people need to be “proactive enough” to make major changes to their daily routines, but says it’s “very easy” to be more aware of their skin.
“I did some very aspiring things in the strength and health sectors as far as nutritional options and training programs are concerned, which is really complicated and difficult,” he said. But wearing SPF is like “brushing teeth.”
His vision for the future is to get men to start putting a tube of sunscreen next to the toothpaste and remember to use it every day.
“My perception of life has changed, but it takes some real sober news,” he said. “I don’t want someone to get there, so I just want to use my platform to get ahead of that.”
Contribution: David Oliver
This article originally appeared in USA Today: John Cena is shocked by his skin cancer. He has a message.
