Treating Melanoma Skin Cancer
Once you are diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer, the next step would be to look for treatment options available. Your dermatologist can discuss the various possible options that can help you treat melanoma.
Melanoma is a serious skin cancer, which cannot be ignored at any cost. The ultraviolet radiation from the sun can trigger the growth of cancerous cells in our skin and can later progress to other parts of the body as well.
Treatment options for melanoma
When melanoma cells spread through the lymph nodes to distant sides and organs of the body, it is the stage IV of melanoma. There are five options available that can aid in treating melanoma skin cancer.
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Surgery
Under surgery, a surgical oncologist cuts the whole melanoma along with the border.
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Immunotherapy
Under this therapy, the medical oncologist with the help of medicines helps to build your body’s immune system to fight cancer cells.
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Targeted therapy
Targeted therapy drugs target melanoma cells from growing further by blocking signals in the cells.
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Chemotherapy
In chemotherapy, the drugs are used to stop or slow down the new growth of cancer cells.
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Radiation therapy
This therapy uses X-ray or other high energy rays to kill the cancer cells.
There may be chances of the relapse of the cancer. Depending on where the tumor has progressed in a much later stage, your surgical oncologist may suggest treating recurrent melanoma.
Treatment of recurrent or metastatic melanoma
After the initial treatment, melanoma can resurface either near the original tumor location or in the form of surgical scar. At a much later stage, melanoma, if not treated soon, can spread to the other organs of the body. Treating melanoma skin cancer in this stage can be done via surgery, which includes sentinel lymph node biopsy, wherein lymph nodes are removed by dissection.
This happens when lymph nodes near the tumor area were not removed in the initial stage. However metastatic melanoma can be treated with combined treatments too, such as chemotherapy, radiation, interferon, or immunotherapy depending on the stage of cancer.
Melanoma skin cancer is not just confined to the moles on your face, they can even occur in places like lungs, bones, liver, or brain. This is usually seen in the stage IV or the last stage of cancer. Melanoma that appears on the visible parts of a body such as arms or legs can be treated with isolated limb perfusion chemotherapy. But melanoma in the brain is worst and needs to be treated in one or more ways such as surgery along with radiation therapy or targeted therapy.
After diagnosing and treating melanoma skin cancer with the options available, your healthcare provider will monitor your health and check for any signs or scars that indicate melanoma has not returned. This includes a physical and dermatologic examination. The objective is to look for any recurrence or new melanoma outbreak.
Melanoma is easily curable in the initial stages. Protect yourself from sun rays and take adequate preventive measures while in sun to control melanoma.
