Symptoms
Melanoma 1 Diagnosis. Ask your doctor whether you should consider periodic screening for skin cancer. 2 Treatment. The best treatment for you depends on the size and stage of cancer, your overall health,... 3 Clinical trials. Explore Mayo Clinic studies testing new treatments,... 4 Preparing for your appointment.
Causes
Because stage IV melanoma is often hard to cure with current treatments, patients may want to think about taking part in a clinical trial. Many studies are now looking at new targeted drugs, immunotherapies, chemotherapy drugs, and combinations of different types of treatments.
Prevention
Treatment of melanoma that comes back after initial treatment depends on the stage of the original melanoma, what treatments a person has already had, where the melanoma comes back, and other factors. Melanoma might come back in the skin near the site of the original tumor, sometimes even in the scar from the surgery.
Complications
Stage I melanoma is typically treated by wide excision ( surgery to remove the melanoma as well as a margin of normal skin around it). The width of the margin depends on the thickness and location of the melanoma. Most often, no other treatment is needed.
What to do if you have melanoma?
Should stage IV melanoma patients take part in clinical trials?
Can melanoma come back after treatment?
What are the treatment options for Stage 1 melanoma?
What is the treatment of choice for melanoma?
The main treatment for melanoma is surgical removal, or excision, of the primary melanoma on the skin. The extent of the surgery depends on the thickness of the melanoma. Most melanomas are found when they are less than 1.0 mm thick, and outpatient surgery is often the only treatment needed.
What happens if you test positive for melanoma?
Because cancer is found deeper than the skin, more surgery may be needed. Also, another treatment that can kill the cancer cells may be added to your treatment plan. While surgery is usually the first choice for treating melanoma, surgery can be too risky for some patients.
What is the first treatment for melanoma?
Treating stage I melanoma Stage I melanoma is typically treated by wide excision (surgery to remove the melanoma as well as a margin of normal skin around it). The width of the margin depends on the thickness and location of the melanoma. Most often, no other treatment is needed.
What is the latest treatment for melanoma?
In 2016, the FDA approved the combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab as a frontline therapy for patients with metastatic or inoperable melanoma. In 2022, the FDA approved a second combination, nivolumab and relatlimab, as a frontline therapy for patients with metastatic or inoperable melanoma.
Is melanoma treatable?
Melanoma is the most invasive skin cancer with the highest risk of death. While it's a serious skin cancer, it's highly curable if caught early. Prevention and early treatment are critical, especially if you have fair skin, blonde or red hair and blue eyes.
What's the next step after being diagnosed with melanoma?
After getting the diagnosis, the next step is to get a complete skin exam and physical. During the physical, your dermatologist (or other doctor) will feel your lymph nodes. This is where melanoma usually goes when it begins to spread. It usually travels to the lymph nodes closest to the melanoma.
What happens if melanoma is not treated?
Melanoma can grow very quickly. It can become life-threatening in as little as 6 weeks and, if untreated, it can spread to other parts of the body. Melanoma can appear on skin not normally exposed to the sun. Nodular melanoma is a highly dangerous form of melanoma that looks different from common melanomas.
Is melanoma treated with chemotherapy?
Chemo might be used to treat advanced melanoma after other treatments have been tried, but it's not often used as the first treatment because newer forms of immunotherapy and targeted drugs are typically more effective.
Why is Mohs not used for melanoma?
While standard of care for non-melanoma skin cancers, Mohs surgery is used less frequently for melanoma in situ because melanoma is far more aggressive (and likely to spread) than other types of skin cancer.
How has treatment for melanoma improved?
In the past decade, survival rates for people with advanced-stage melanoma have dramatically improved, in large part because of targeted therapies and immunotherapy. These treatments are the new standards of care for advanced stages of melanoma.
Can melanoma be treated with radiation?
Radiation can be used to treat melanoma that has come back after surgery, either in the skin or lymph nodes, or to help treat distant spread of the disease. Radiation therapy is often used to relieve symptoms caused by the spread of the melanoma, especially to the brain or bones.
What is the best treatment for stage 4 melanoma?
Doctors may use traditional methods to treat stage 4 melanoma. These include surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. Newer methods of treatment for stage 4 melanoma include immunotherapy and targeted therapy.
What is the best treatment for stage IV melanoma?
Chemotherapy can help some people with stage IV melanoma, but other treatments are usually tried first. Dacarbazine (DTIC) and temozolomide (Temodar) are the chemo drugs used most often, either by themselves or combined with other drugs. Even when chemotherapy shrinks these cancers, the cancer usually starts growing again within several months.
How to treat melanoma on arm?
For melanomas on an arm or leg, another option might be isolated limb perfusion or isolated limb infusion (infusing just the limb with chemotherapy ). Other possible treatments might include targeted therapy (for melanomas with a BRAF or C-KIT gene change), immunotherapy, or chemotherapy.
What to do if SLNB found cancer?
If the SLNB found cancer, adjuvant (additional) treatment with an immune checkpoint inhibitor or targeted therapy drugs (if the melanoma has a BRAF gene mutation) might be recommended to try to lower the chance the melanoma will come back.
What is stage 0 melanoma?
It is usually treated by surgery (wide excision) to remove the melanoma and a small margin of normal skin around it. The removed sample is then sent to a lab to be looked at with a microscope.
What is the best treatment for cancer at the edges of the sample?
Some doctors may consider the use of imiquimod cream (Zyclara) or radiation therapy instead of surgery, although not all doctors agree with this.
Can stage 3 melanoma be cured?
Other possible treatments might include targeted therapy (for melanomas with a BRAF or C-KIT gene change), immunotherapy, or chemotherapy. Some people with stage III melanoma might not be cured with current treatments, so they may want to think about taking part in a clinical trial of newer treatments.
Does melanoma spread to lymph nodes?
The width of the margin depends on the thickness and location of the melanoma. Because the melanoma may have spread to nearby lymph nodes , many doctors recommend a sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) as well. This is an option that you and your doctor should discuss.
How to cope with melanoma?
Here are some ideas to help you cope: Learn enough about melanoma to make decisions about your care. Ask your doctor about your cancer, including your treatment options and, if you like, your prognosis. As you learn more about cancer, you may become more confident in making treatment decisions. Keep friends and family close.
How to treat early stage melanoma?
Treatment for early-stage melanomas usually includes surgery to remove the melanoma. A very thin melanoma may be removed entirely during the biopsy and require no further treatment. Otherwise, your surgeon will remove the cancer as well as a border of normal skin and a layer of tissue beneath the skin.
How to treat melanoma that has spread beyond the skin?
Treating melanomas that have spread beyond the skin. If melanoma has spread beyond the skin, treatment options may include: Surgery to remove affected lymph nodes. If melanoma has spread to nearby lymph nodes, your surgeon may remove the affected nodes.
What is the procedure to remove melanoma from lymph nodes?
If there's a risk that the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes, your doctor may recommend a procedure known as a sentinel node biopsy. During a sentinel node biopsy, a dye is injected in the area where your melanoma was removed. The dye flows to the nearby lymph nodes.
What is the stage of melanoma?
Melanoma is staged using the Roman numerals 0 through IV. At stage 0 and stage I, a melanoma is small and has a very successful treatment rate. But the higher the numeral, the lower the chances of a full recovery. By stage IV, the cancer has spread beyond your skin to other organs, such as your lungs or liver.
How to assign stage to melanoma?
To assign a stage to your melanoma, your doctor will: Determine the thickness. The thickness of a melanoma is determined by carefully examining the melanoma under a microscope and measuring it with a special tool. The thickness of a melanoma helps doctors decide on a treatment plan.
When is targeted therapy recommended for melanoma?
For melanoma, targeted therapy might be recommended if the cancer has spread to your lymph nodes or to other areas of your body.
Stages of melanoma and likely treatment options
The most common treatment for Stage 0, I or II (early stage) melanoma is surgery. If caught early, 90% of melanomas can be cured with simple surgery alone.
Surgery
Surgery is the most common treatment for melanoma, however its purpose varies depending on how far the cancer has progressed.
Drug Therapy
A medical oncologist is a doctor who specialises in drug therapy and will plan and monitor you during your treatment. Drug therapy can be neoadjuvant (before surgery) or adjuvant (after surgery) with the treatment option best for you determined by your disease stage and other health factors.
Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy uses x-rays to target and kill cancer cells by damaging their DNA. Normal cells can repair damage to their DNA, but cancer cells are less able to do this and therefore die when affected by radiation therapy. The dead cancer cells are then broken down and eliminated by the body’s natural processes.
Diagnosis
Treatment
Clinical Trials
Coping and Support
Preparing For Your Appointment
