Early detection gives you the best chance to tackle melanoma in the early development phase. If you leave it too long, cancer can spread through the body, including through the bloodstream and lymph nodes. Your internal organs are also at great risk, as cancer spreads throughout your body.
Treatment of melanoma has developed rapidly in recent years; but further research and experimentation is needed to effectively treat the disease, especially in the latter stages of skin cancer. Some of the current advanced technologies for treatment include:
- Removal: The cancerous tissue will be removed surgically. The doctor will remove the cancerous tissues as well as some of the bordering tissue.
- Immunotherapy: This is a type of treatment used to help the body’s own natural immunity increase in order to fight off the melanoma. In the development of this treatment, scientists recognized that the body is able to suppress the growth of cancer cells if the immune system is strong enough to destroy them. This forms the backbone of immunotherapy and holds great promise in future treatment.
- Lymphatic mapping: When melanoma has spread to the lymph nodes, a doctor will inject a blue dye into the area where lymph nodes are located to detect the cancer cells. If cancer is recognized, the affected lymph nodes may be removed entirely.
- Radiation: This is where a doctor will use radiation to “zap” active cancer cells. This treatment is often used in patients that have highly developed melanoma that has already begun to spread through the body. While it was once believed that melanoma could be resistant to radiation, emerging studies prove otherwise.
Treatment Based on Stages of Skin Cancer
The type of treatment you might receive depends on how developed the melanoma is. Generally, the development stages can be broken down as:
- Early stage to stage 1
Most melanomas can be caught in the early stage and resolved by surgery under local anesthetic. This is where the melanoma has only spread at skin level and remains in one location. Your doctor will remove the suspicious mole or freckle, as well as a small area of healthy skin surrounding the mole or freckle. As with the diagnosis of melanoma, a sample of the skin will be sent off for further examination. If melanoma is detected, a second surgery will be booked to remove further healthy tissue from the original site. This is to ensure all cancer cells have been removed and confirm that there’s no risk that it will further develop or spread within the body. You will most likely have a few stitches put in when the wider area of skin is removed to aid in the healing process. - Stage 2
Depending on how deep the melanoma has spread to the skin surface, your doctor may also remove a wide area of skin around the site. By stage 2 there’s a risk that the melanoma could have spread to your lymph nodes. Your doctor will decide whether he should carry out a sentinel lymph node biopsy. A sentinel lymph is the predominant lymph node that comes under attack when melanoma is present. If your doctor believes there is a strong chance that cancer has spread, based on your individual situation, then he will run a further examination to remove the lymph nodes. The surgery involves a dye being used near the cancerous cells that allow the surgeon to locate the sentinel lymph node. An incision will be made to the skin surrounding the lymph node, before removing the sentinel lymph node entirely. Once again a sample will be sent to determine if further lymph nodes need to be removed. This suggests that the melanoma has spread to further areas within the body. - Stage 3
This stage is where the melanoma has reached the lymph nodes upon first examination and diagnosis. Treatment involves the same process as early stages with the removal of the suspected mole or freckle, along with an area of healthy skin around the site. The sentinel lymph node biopsy will also be undertaken as soon as possible. Your doctor may recommend particular medications, or in some cases radiation therapy, in hopes of preventing the melanoma from returning. This is often carried out at the site from where the lymph nodes were removed. This is a likely treatment path if multiple lymph nodes are affected. - Stage 4
This is the most advanced form of melanoma and it is usually very hard to treat. The American Cancer Council suggests that the five-year survival rate is only about 15-20%. This means only 15-20 people out of every 100 of those that have melanoma, will still be alive five years after their diagnosis. The ten-year survival rate is even more grim, with less than 10% seeing past ten years and a life expectancy of only 2-7 months. By stage 4, melanoma has truly spread, not only to the sentinel lymph but to other lymph nodes throughout your body. There’s also the risk that it has reached some of your organs including lungs, bones and your brain. You might also hear of this catastrophic stage called metastatic melanoma. It is the stage of cancer that is most aggressive and spreads incredibly quickly throughout the body. Because of this, there is often little that medical experts can do. A surgeon will remove the sentinel lymph nodes and multiple other lymph nodes where needed. Sometimes they can also successfully remove parts of cancer from particular organs. They will then look at options such as chemotherapy, radiation or immunotherapy. Certain medications can also be prescribed, such as those used in chemotherapy treatment plans; however some of the side-effects can be debilitating.
Unfortunately, all of these methods have quite poor prognosis. However, treatment options are continually evolving, as research continues into advanced stages of melanoma.
