Melanoma/Skin Cancer Health Center

A link to a list of current clinical trials is included for each treatment section. For some types or stages of cancer, there may not be any trials listed. Check with your doctor for clinical trials that are not listed here but may be right for you.

Stage 0 (Melanoma in Situ)

Treatment of stage 0 is usually surgery to remove the area of abnormalcells and a small amount of normal tissue around it.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with stage 0 melanoma. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Stage I Melanoma

Treatment of stage I melanoma may include the following:

• Surgery to remove the tumor and some of the normal tissue around it.
• A clinical trial of surgery to remove the tumor and some of the normal tissue around it, with or without lymph node mapping and lymphadenectomy.
• A clinical trial of new techniques to detect cancercells in the lymph nodes.
• A clinical trial of lymphadenectomy with or without adjuvant therapy.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with stage I melanoma. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Stage II Melanoma

Treatment of stage II melanoma may include the following:

• Surgery to remove the tumor and some of the normal tissue around it, followed by removal of nearby lymph nodes.
• Lymph node mapping and sentinel lymph node biopsy, followed by surgery to remove the tumor and some of the normal tissue around it. If cancer is found in the sentinel lymph node, a second surgery may be done to remove more nearby lymph nodes.
• Surgery followed by high-dosebiologic therapy.
• A clinical trial of adjuvantchemotherapy and/or biologic therapy.
• A clinical trial of new techniques to detect cancer cells in the lymph nodes.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with stage II melanoma. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Stage III Melanoma

Treatment of stage III melanoma may include the following:

• Surgery to remove the tumor and some of the normal tissue around it.
• Surgery to remove the tumor with skin grafting to cover the wound caused by surgery.
• Surgery followed by biologic therapy.
• A clinical trial of surgery followed by chemotherapy and/or biologic therapy.
• A clinical trial of biologic therapy.
• A clinical trial comparing surgery alone to surgery with biologic therapy.
• A clinical trial of chemoimmunotherapy or biologic therapy.
• A clinical trial of hyperthermicisolated limb perfusion using chemotherapy and biologic therapy.
• A clinical trial of biologic therapy and radiation therapy.