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Physicians at Mayo Clinic treat several hundred melanoma cases each year. Specialists from Dermatology, Oncology, Ophthalmology, General Surgery, Otorhinolaryngology and other specialty areas work together to offer the latest treatment for melanoma skin cancer. Consultations are available for individuals suspected of having genetic susceptibility to melanoma. Clinical and laboratory investigators at Mayo participate in melanoma research projects designed to improve treatment.
Physicians evaluate new skin growths, atypical lesions that last for more than two weeks, or changing moles. To diagnose melanoma, a sample (biopsy) of the questionable spot on the skin is taken for laboratory analysis by a pathologist. If a cancer invades deeply into the skin a sentinel lymph node biopsy may be done. This procedure identifies the lymph node that would first receive drainage from a malignant tumor. If no cancer cells are found in the sentinel lymph node, then the chance of cancer having spread to other parts of the body is very low. An X-ray and blood tests may also be conducted to determine if the cancer has spread to other areas.
Mayo Clinic treats all types of malignant melanoma, including ocular melanoma. Treatment options include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, interferon therapy and experimental therapy. For people with early stage, resectable (removable by surgery) melanoma, surgeons usually recommend surgery alone or in combination with sentinel lymph node biopsy. For people with advanced disease (melanoma that has spread) treatments consist of chemotherapy, interferon therapy or experimental therapies in which new agents are used against this disease. Treatment decisions are made by a multidisciplinary team, including the patient, which considers the multitude of options for therapy and selects a treatment strategy based on the specifics of each case.
Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States, and it is increasing at an alarming rate. Although highly treatable forms of the disease, such as basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas, are on the rise, the greatest increase has been in melanoma, the most deadly skin cancer. There are four main types of melanoma, and each has unique symptoms. The disease typically arises painlessly from cells that produce the skin's pigment (melanin). Approximately 70 percent of these cancers appear on normal skin; 30 percent arise from an existing mole that has undergone sudden changes in color, size, pain, itching, bleeding or swelling. If left untreated the tumor can spread downward into other areas of the skin or to lymph nodes or internal organs.
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When Warren Farwell learned that he had ocular melanoma, he joined a research trial at Mayo Clinic comparing two treatments for this type of cancer.
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This glossary helps clarify melanoma treatment terms.
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