John Cena, 48, reveals how he changed his life after he was diagnosed with cancer

John Cena is sharing advice and what he wished he’d known before he was diagnosed with skin cancer.

Cena, 48, was diagnosed with melanoma twice, first with a spot on his left pectoral muscle and again a year later when another spot on his left upper trapezius muscle was also cancerous.

‘I received the phone call twice, “Hey, you’ve got to come back, because the biopsy came back cancerous,”‘ Cena recalled.   

‘That information is sobering, and it right there prompted me to change my life.’

After his skin cancer scare, the 17-time WWE Champion immediately made applying sunscreen part of his daily routine.

And that’s how he became the face of the new Neutrogena campaign for Ultra Sheer Mineral Face Liquid Sunscreen SPF 70 with a new mission of normalizing skin care for men.

‘Skincare is a more palatable and accepted term and subject matter amongst women,’ he told USA Today. 

‘Discussions between men can be more difficult to initiate. But it doesn’t have to be that way,’ he stressed.

‘Men especially, are becoming more conscious of self-care… I just think we need to make it more commonplace.’

Women are twice as likely than men to wear sunscreen and by age 50 men have a greater risk for developing melanoma than men.

However, at any age, men are more likely to die from melanoma than women, according to the American Academy of Dermotology.

‘SPF is more common in the vernacular of women, and that’s because it is directly correlated with beauty,’ Cena said.

Women’s morning skincare routine provides an ideal time for sunscreen application, something Cena said men must pay more attention to. 

‘If someone uses SPF, because they don’t want to get wrinkles, it’s like someone going to the gym saying, “I want to be ripped.” But being ‘ripped’ is essentially making healthier choices,” he explained. 

‘So you can go to the gym for aesthetic purposes, but the reward of training goes far more than just aesthetic beauty. I think SPF is in the same lane.’

Cena knows that making substantial changes in their routine means they have to be ‘proactive enough,’ but he says it’s ‘super easy’to be more conscious of your skin.

‘I’ve done some pretty aspirational things in the strength and health department, as far as nutritional choices and training regimens, and that’s really complicated, difficult stuff,’ he said. But wearing SPF is just like ‘brushing your teeth.’

Cena would love to see a yube of sunscreen right next to men’s toothpaste — and see them remember to use it daily.  

‘My perspective on life has changed, but it took some real sobering news,’ he said. 

‘I don’t want anybody to get there, so I’m just trying to use my platform to get ahead of that one.’

Last month, Cena candidly revealed that he got a hair transplant due to relentless bullying from fans.

He confessed that he got the cosmetic procedure due to social media comments that pointed out his ‘bald spot.’ 

He explained while appearing on The Pat McAfee Show, ‘You guys ripped me to shreds for a genetic problem that I can’t control. In unison, you chant and make me feel small and embarrass me. That is straight-up bullying and not cool.

‘Thank you for bullying me into surgical hair replacement. That’s how far y’all pushed me.’

He defended his choice, saying, ‘There is no shame in that. [Balding] happens to seven out of 10 dudes. I got a problem. I try to fix it.’

Asked about the procedure by the panel of media personalities on the show, he detailed, ‘You have to take the [hair] from the side and plant [it] in at the top.’

‘It just takes a while for it to come in,’ he added.

John wore a black hat and T-shirt while on the live show, explaining that he is anticipating significant hair growth over the forthcoming weeks.

‘Hopefully in a couple of months, it looks better,’ he noted.

And the longtime wrestler, who revealed he had the procedure in November, joked, ‘But I can’t grow a mustache. I got nothing.’