Surgery

Surgery to remove the tumor is the primary treatment for all stages of melanoma. A wide local excision is used to remove the melanoma and some of the normal tissue around it. Skin grafting (taking skin from another part of the body to replace the skin that is removed) may be done to cover the wound caused by surgery.

Sometimes, it is important to know whether cancer has spread to the lymph nodes. Lymph node mapping and sentinel lymph node biopsy are done to check for cancer in the sentinel lymph node, which is the first lymph node the cancer is likely to spread to from the primary tumor.

If only a small amount of cancer cells are found during a sentinel lymph node biopsy, active surveillance with ultrasound may be recommended instead of more surgery.

After the doctor removes all the melanoma that can be seen at the time of the surgery, some people may be given chemotherapy after surgery to kill any cancer cells that are left. Chemotherapy given after the surgery to lower the risk that the cancer will come back is called adjuvant therapy.

Surgery to remove cancer that has spread to the lymph nodes, lung, digestive tract, bone, or brain may be done to improve quality of life by controlling symptoms.