Winning games, defending the Super 12 title, playing for Australia - it suddenly meant nothing to Wallaby five-eighth Stephen Larkham.

All that mattered was staying alive.

Larkham was diagnosed with a malignant cancer on his left leg four weeks ago and underwent surgery on Saturday to remove the melanoma and surrounding skin from behind his knee.

The 30-year-old Test veteran now has another anxious week ahead as he waits on the results from his surgery to check whether all of the malignant growth has been removed.

"Playing football wasn't really the main concern, it would have been life," Larkham said when asked if he thought his career could have been over when he was diagnosed with cancer.

"The concern was making sure I survived."

Larkham will miss at least the Brumbies' next three Super 12 matches after having an area of about four centimetres by 2cm removed from the back of his knee, at the crease of his leg.

He underwent surgery after playing in Friday night's 22-19 win over the Stormers while his Brumbies' teammates flew to South Africa for Saturday's clash with the Cats.

The five-eighth first noticed the mole at the back of his knee in the lead-up to the 2003 World Cup but it wasn't until a couple of months ago he realised it had grown and changed shape.

His GP ordered a biopsy and he was referred to skin cancer specialist Peter Barry, who carried out surgery to remove the cancer.

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