Staging & Treatment

The specific treatment of melanoma is based on its stage (location and spread), but most often involves surgical removal of the mass, and often removal of lymph nodes.

• Stage O. Also called melanoma in situ, the cancer can be removed along with a small portion of outlying normal tissue.

• Stage IA. At this stage, the melanoma is, at most, one millimeter in size, and can be removed along with the one centimeter of normal skin that surrounds it.

• Stage IB. These tumors have less than a one-millimeter depth, or a thickness of one to two millimeters. Treatment consists of surgical removal with a wide incision of between one and two centimeters around the tumor. In addition, we will perform an innovative technique called a sentinel lymph node biopsy—a procedure in which our surgical oncology department has significant experience.

• Stage II. All melanomas that have not spread to the lymph nodes are considered Stage II, and often warrant the same treatment as a Stage IB cancer.

• Stage III. In Stage III cancers, the disease has spread to the regional lymph nodes. Treatment for these patients not only includes wide incision surgical removal, but also removal of all lymph nodes in the cancer-affected region.

• Stage IV. In this instance, cancer has spread beyond the regional lymph nodes. In addition to surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy may also be recommended.

Seek the most aggressive treatments available with a referral from your primary care physician or with a self-referral by calling 1-877-LACKS-MI or 616-685-LACK(S).