Gov. Kathy Hochul was back to work Friday morning after undergoing a brief outpatient procedure to remove a patch of skin cancer from her nose.

In a video announcement shared to social media just before 11 a.m. Friday, Hochul, wearing a skin-colored bandage over the right side of her nose, said she’d had a basal cell carcinoma removed. The procedure was done at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan.

“You can see there’s a band-aid, it’s going to be there for a little while, a little bit of swelling, maybe even a black eye, but as I say, you should have seen the other guy,” she shared in the lighthearted video.

According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, basal cell carcinomas are uncontrolled growths that arise from the basal cells in a patient’s skin, which are responsible for new skin growth. They often develop as a result of UV radiation exposure from the sun, a combination of intermittent intense exposure and long-term cumulative UV exposure. It’s the most common type of skin cancer in the U.S., with 3.6 million cases diagnosed annually. But its rarely fatal.

The key to a good outcome with a cancer like basal cell carcinoma is early detection, something Hochul stressed herself.

“Early detection is everything,” she said. “This was tiny. I noticed it, my doctor noticed it, we got it removed, sparing all kinds of problems in the future. You need to do the same. Keep an eye on your body, get your checkups and make sure your family does the same.”

Basal cell carcinomas can look widely different, depending on where they are located, how long they’ve been growing and the patients skin color. They appear on all skin colors, regardless of how much melanin the patient has, although paler skin is more likely to develop a basal cell carcinoma.

According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, a basal cell carcinoma can present as an open sore, a red patch, pinkish growths, shiny bumps, scar tissue or growths with raised edges and a depressed center. They may bleed or ooze pus, and they’re most common on the most sun-exposed skin, like the face or shoulders. In dark skinned patients, about half of basal cell carcinomas are pigmented with melanin.

Health experts say it’s key that all people, especially older people and people who are exposed to a lot of UV radiation from the sun, keep an eye on their skin, check all over for changes to their skin regularly and consult a doctor as soon as possible if something new is found. While the prognosis for basal cell carcinoma is generally good with early intervention, if left untreated the cancer can become disfiguring, grow into other parts of the body near where it began, and in rare cases spread throughout the body and turn fatal.

Early prevention tips for all skin cancers include using at least SPF 50 sunscreen when going outside, especially between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., limiting sun exposure and seeking shade whenever possible outdoors.