@itchyrich I'm sorry to hear about your niece. Was this a planned surgery following neoadjuvant chemotherapy (chemo provided before surgery in the hopes of shrinking or stopping the spread of a tumor) or had it spread after she had started immunotherapy and the unfortunate complication? In any case, wishing her all the best for a successful outcome. She has a very compassionate uncle!

She and her sister were proactive to undergo genetic testing. I take it you mean your brother - their father - had no history of melanoma but you had over 30 years ago, and are concerned about your daughter possibly having a predisposition. I'll speculate, too, that there was a genetic tie to their mother's side and you happened to have a melanoma as well - as it can affect approximately 1 in 40 people.

As genetic testing can reveal various types of mutations associated with melanoma, with some variations associated with a much stronger familial incidence, it may be helpful to find out from your nieces what their testing specifically revealed. Once your daughter has that information - along with the dates, family relations and types of melanomas that had been diagnosed and treated - she may be able to better discuss these findings with her dermatologist to arrive at an informed decision, while continuing to undergo her advised skin exams. Other factors to consider is if the testing would be covered by insurance, which would potentially be based upon medical necessity; if not, the costs can run into the thousands.

I'm not sure if you were asking anything in particular but I thought I'd provide some background. Does this help?