Melanoma (Skin Cancer) Treatment Basics:
General overviews of the available treatments for the different types of skin cancer, including chemotherapy, immunotherapy, surgery, topical creams, and more.
Stages of Melanoma and Corresponding Treatments:
Stage 0:
Treatment for stage 0 melanoma is usually to remove the cancerous cells and a small area of skin surrounding them.
Stage IA:
Treatment – Surgical removal of any remaining tumor and a margin of normal-looking skin. The normal-looking skin is examined under a microscope to verify that cancer cells are not present.
Stage IB:
Treatment – In stage 1B, treatment consists of:
*Surgical removal of any remaining tumor and a margin of normal-looking skin (surgical excision). The normal-looking skin is examined under a microscope to verify that cancer cells are not present.
*Clinical trial – Some patients with stage IB melanoma participate in clinical trials that evaluate new techniques for detecting the spread of melanoma to the sentinel lymph node.
Stage I melanoma cancer is generally easily treated. Simple excisions and re-excisions are the surgical procedures that are most commonly used to treat this type of cancer. The five-year survival rate of patients with stage I melanoma are approximately 90 to 95 percent.
Stage II:
Treatment for stage II melanoma is much more detailed. It begins with removal of the melanoma and some of the surrounding “normal” skin, followed by removal of the nearby lymph nodes. The National Cancer Institute reports that after surgery, patients often undergo “biologic therapy,” which uses vaccines and antibodies to attempt to restore the immune system so it is better able to fight cancer and infections. The five-year survival rate for stage II melanoma is between 56 and 78 percent, depending upon the thickness of the tumor.
Stage III:
Treatment of Stage III melanoma includes the surgical removal of the melanoma tumor and surgical removal of the lymph nodes. Adjuvant therapy is also usually necessary. Chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy and vaccine therapy are all treatment options that are sometimes used to treat Stage III patients. Exactly which combination of methods is used is determined on a case-by-case basis.
Stage IV:
Stage IV is the most advanced stage of melanoma. At this point, the cancer has spread to other lymph nodes, areas of skin and bodily organs such as the liver, lungs or kidneys. If there are few cancerous tumors, the doctor may choose to remove them. If there are several, at this stage she may decide that the best course of treatment is to not remove the tumors, but treat the symptoms of the cancer so the patient can be as comfortable as possible. Some of the optional treatments are chemotherapy, biologic therapy and radiation. The American Cancer Society reports that the five-year survival rate for stage IV melanoma is around 18 percent.
