Treatment of melanoma

Treating melanoma

Early diagnosis and treatment of melanoma has a 90% survival rate outlook. If melanoma is not treated, the cancer can spread anywhere. Melanoma cancer commonly spreads to the brain, liver, lung, and bones. Advanced melanoma has very low rates of survival.

Surgical removal of the cancerous lesion is the primary and most effective treatment of melanoma. The excision must extend beyond the lesion and includes a surrounding margin of normal tissue. Because melanoma can spread to the lymph nodes and other parts of the body, a physical examination or biopsy of other tissue samples may be taken.

For advanced stage melanoma, treatment is often very limited and survival outlook is poor. Melanoma can quickly spread to other parts of the body and patients have average survival rates of 6 to 9 months. Surgery or chemotherapy has poor response rates for metastasized melanoma.