If you are a patient who has been diagnosed with melanoma  the shock and fright of hearing that word can cause you to block everything else out. The fear is understandable as melanoma is considered to be the most deadly form of skin cancer. The National Cancer Institute estimates that in 2009 there were approximately 8,650 deaths caused by melanoma. The important thing to remember about melanoma is that it is preventable and can usually be successfully treated in the early stages. For more information about how to prevent melanoma and other skin cancers please visit our Skin Cancer Prevention Page.

Treatment for melanoma greatly depends upon the stage of cancer you have and if the cancer has spread. We will talk about the traditional ways of treating melanoma first and then we will give you information about the most recent experimental procedures and drugs developed to combat even advanced melanoma.

Melanoma Treatment:

• Surgery is the primary method of treating all stages of melanoma skin cancer. The melanoma will often be removed during your biopsy procedure. If it is deemed necessary subsequent surgery will remove any more cancerous cells. If the melanoma has not spread and is limited to the skin then surgery will most likely cure the melanoma.

If more surgery is needed after the initial biopsy and the re-excision covers a wide area or needs to go deep into the skin a skin graft procedure may be necessary.

If it is suspected that the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes they may be removed and examined for evidence of cancer cells. If the cancer has not spread beyond the lymph nodes, removal may help the patient to live longer.

Mohs surgery is sometimes used to treat melanoma especially when the cancer is confined to the skin. Mohs micrographic surgery is a specialized skin surgery where the surgeon removes the tumor and immediately examines the excised tissue under a microscope while the patient is still in the office. The goal is complete tumor excision with only minimal sacrifice of healthy skin surrounding the lesion.

• Chemotherapy may be used if the cancer has spread to other parts of the body. Chemotherapy does not provide a cure but can potentially prolong the patient’s life. It is estimated that 20% of cancers shrink in response to one or more of the chemotherapy drugs but the effects last only between 3 and 6 months. Remission may occur if the tumors completely disappear but there is a high risk that the cancer will return.

• Radiation Therapy may also be used if the cancer has spread throughout the body primarily to bring relief for symptoms of metastases to the brain and bones. Radiation treatment utilizes high-powered energy beams, X-rays, to destroy cancer cells. In advanced stages of melanoma radiation therapy may be used in conjunction with surgery and chemotherapy.

• Biological Therapy (Immunotherapy) uses the body’s natural immune system to kill cancer cells. This type of therapy utilizes the T-cells of our immune system to specifically target tumor cells and destroy them. Two biological therapies used to treat melanoma include interferon and interlukin-2.