Melanoma is the general name given to patches on the skin which have started to change and produce cancer cells. If left untreated, malignant melanoma can prove fatal, especially when the cancer is at an advanced stage and has spread into other organs of the body. It’s not all bad news though as the cure rates for melanoma caught early are excellent. Different melanoma treatments are used for different stages of the disease.
If the patient is doing as he should and regularly checking his moles and skin for any signs of changes, melanoma is likely to be picked up very early on. In this situation, the doctor may want to monitor the melanoma or suspicious mole for a short time to confirm the diagnosis before taking further action. Photos may be taken of the skin and the patient asked to return at regular intervals so any changes can be noted and investigated.
Once it has been established that the mole or patch of skin is indeed a malignant melanoma, the standard melanoma treatment at this stage is surgical removal. The patient will be admitted to hospital and given a local anesthetic around the location of the mole. A surgeon will then carefully remove the mole and the surrounding skin. Stitches may be required depending on the size of the skin removed. The mole will then be sent for testing at the lab. If the melanoma is at an early stage this is usually all the treatment that is required, although the patient will require regular checks as people who have developed malignant melanoma once are at more risk of doing so again in the future. Anyone who has had a malignant melanoma removed will have to take additional care in the sun, using a high factor sunscreen at all times, avoiding sun beds and covering up during the hottest parts of the day. The main drawback to this sort of surgery is scarring, and if the mole removed was on the face the scarring may be noticeable. The patient may be referred for plastic surgery or given advice about applying camouflaging make-up.
When the skin cancer is diagnosed at a later stage, the initial melanoma treatment is the same. The areas of concern will be removed surgically and sent off for further examination. If the affected area was quite large, stitches may not be sufficient to heal the skin and a skin graft from another part of the body may be needed. The patient will have tests to see whether or not the cancer has spread to the nearest lymph nodes and if it is suspected that it has those may have to be surgically removed also. Depending on the size and location of the melanoma, the doctor may prescribe some drugs to attempt to stop the melanoma reoccurring in the future. The later the stage at which the melanoma is discovered then the more likely it will be that the patient is recommended to undergo further treatment with preventative drugs.
Most people with melanoma will find that their cancer is completely cured using the surgical methods described above. Some however may be advised to undertake a course of radiotherapy in addition to surgery, especially when the melanoma is discovered at a later stage, or when cancer cells have spread from the melanoma into other parts of the body. This is usually a daily treatment at the hospital, designed to shrink the cancer cells that may remain in the body, and the course lasts anything between 2 and 6 weeks.
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