Surgery

Complete surgical removal (excision) is the most successful and the most common treatment for melanoma. The lymph nodes may also need to be removed (lymphadenectomy) in stages II and III melanoma.

Metastatic melanoma is also treated with surgery to remove the primary melanoma and cancer from nearby tissue or lymph nodes.

Surgery Choices

The most common types of surgery used to treat melanoma include:

• Surgical excision. Excision removes the entire melanoma along with a border (margin) of normal-appearing skin.
• Lymphadenectomy, or surgery to remove lymph nodes that are cancerous.

What To Think About

Other treatment options are also used for melanomas that occur in rare sites, such as in the eye, on a finger or toe, or under a nail.