Melanoma/Skin Cancer Health Center

Surgery is the most common treatment for melanoma and is done to remove the primary melanoma. Sometimes lymph nodes may be removed at the same time to check them for cancer. Surgery also may be done to remove lymph nodes that have cancer or to remove tumors that may have spread to other parts of the body.

Surgery Choices

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

• Local excision. This surgery takes out the melanoma and a little of the tissue around it.
• Wide local excision. This surgery removes more of the tissue around the melanoma. Lymph nodes may also be removed during this surgery.
• Lymph node dissection (lymphadenectomy). This is surgery to remove lymph nodes to see if they have cancer cells. Or this may be done to remove lymph nodes that are cancerous.
• Sentinel lymph node biopsy. This surgery removes the first lymph node that the cancer may have spread to from the tumor. If this lymph node does not have any cancer cells, then you may not need to have more lymph nodes removed.

What To Think About

After removal of a primary melanoma, you may need a skingraft or other reconstructive surgery for cosmetic reasons or to restore function. This is most likely if the melanoma was large or was a late-stage tumor.