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Metastic Melanoma Treatment

Metastatic melanoma is a skin cancer that originates in the melanocytes within the skin, and then begins to spread to other part of the skin and other organs. Melanocytes are skin cells located in the lower layers of the epidermis. Treatment options for metastatic melanoma include radiation therapy and surgery.

  1. Surgery

    • The primary form of treatment for metastatic melanoma in its earliest stage is surgery. The sentinel lymph node is the lymph node within the skin that first creates the cancerous cells that become melanoma. Doctors can uses special mapping technology to determine the sentinel lymph node, and then remove it surgically. This will help deter the spread of cancer, and can keep the cancer localized. Additional surgery may include removing the rest of the infected portions of epidermis to stop the cells from spreading further.

    Chemotherapy Medication

    • Chemotherapy uses a regimen of medications to stop the cancerous cells from spreading. Medications sometimes change from phase to phase depending on how advanced the condition is. In some cases, a doctor will use chemotherapy before surgery to help stop the cells from spreading and give surgical removal of infected tissue a better chance of success. Chemotherapy may also be used for a brief time after surgery to ensure that remaining cancerous cells do not divide and spread the cancer again. In some cases chemotherapy is paired with a biological treatment known as interferon therapy. Interferon is a disease-fighting protein produced by the body that has been shown to slow the progress of the cancerous cells of metastatic melanoma. When substances produced by the body are used to fight cancer, such as interferon, this is referred to as biotherapy.

    Radiation Treatment

    • For more advanced stages of metastatic melanoma such as stage III or IV, doctors may turn to radiation therapy to stop the spread of active cancer cells. In radiation therapy, powerful X-rays are used to help slow the spread of cancerous cells and reduce the effects of the symptoms. Radiation treatment is sometimes used in conjunction with chemotherapy, or on its own. In some cases, doctors may prefer using radiation therapy over chemotherapy as radiation has the ability to single out the more rapidly dividing cancer cells from the normal healthy cells and stop them from spreading.

    Prognosis

    • Survival rates for the various forms of cancer are usually rated in 10-year increments. According to the University of Washington School of Medicine, the 10-year prognosis for those suffering from metastatic melanoma is a survival rate of only 10%. That means that only 1 out of every 10 people with the condition are expected to survive more than 10 years after diagnosis.

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