Booklet: What You Need to Know about Skin Cancer
Update: July 1999

Treatment by stage

Treatment of melanoma depends on the type of the disease, the stage of disease, and the patient's age and general health.

Standard treatment may be considered because of its effectiveness in patients in past studies, or participation in a clinical trial may be considered. Surgery is currently the only standard treatment of melanoma. Clinical trials are designed to find better ways to treat cancer patients. Clinical trials are ongoing in most parts of the country for most stages of melanoma. To learn more about clinical trials, call the Cancer Information Service at 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237); TTY at 1-800-332-8615.

Stage 0 Melanoma

Treatment may be the following:

1. Minor surgery to remove all of the tumor and some of the surrounding tissue.

Stage I Melanoma

Treatment may be one of the following:

1. Surgery to remove all of the tumor, including as much as 2 centimeters of the surrounding tissue. Skin grafting may be done to cover the wound.

Stage II Melanoma

Treatment may be one of the following:

1. Surgery to remove all of the tumor, including as much as 2 centimeters of the surrounding tissue. Skin grafting may be done to cover the wound. Removal of nearby lymph nodes may also be performed.
   
2. A clinical trial of surgery including removal of regional lymph nodes followed by systemic chemotherapy, adjuvant chemotherapy, or biological therapy.

Stage III Melanoma

Treatment may be one of the following:

1. Surgery to remove all of the tumor, including as much as 3 centimeters of the surrounding tissue. Skin grafting may be done to cover the wound. Removal of nearby lymph nodes may also be performed.
   
2. A clinical trial of surgery to remove all of the tumor, including as much as 3 centimeters of the surrounding tissue followed by biological therapy.
   
3. A clinical trial of surgery including removal of regional lymph nodes followed by adjuvant chemotherapy, adjuvant biological therapy, or immunological therapy.

Stage IV Melanoma

Treatment may be one of the following:

1. Surgery to remove lymph nodes that contain cancer or tumors that have spread (metastasized) to other areas of the body.
   
2. Radiation therapy to relieve symptoms caused by the cancer.
   
3. A clinical trial of systemic chemotherapy and/or biological therapy.
   
4. A clinical trial of biological therapy injected directly into the tumor.
   
5. A clinical trial of heated chemotherapy.

Recurrent Melanoma

Treatment depends on many factors, such as the treatment the patient received before, and where the cancer came back. Treatment may be one of the following: 

1. Surgery to remove the tumor. 

2. Radiation therapy to relieve symptoms caused by the cancer. 

3. A clinical trial of biological therapy or chemotherapy to relieve symptoms caused by the cancer.

4. Biological therapy to relieve symptoms caused by the cancer.

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