How are later-stage skin cancers treated?

How are later-stage skin cancers treated?

Harry Saperstein, MD, FAAD (Dermatologist, Clinical Assoc. Professor, Medicine, Private Practice and UCLA) gives expert video advice on: How are early-stage melanoma skin cancers treated?; What types of radiation therapy are used to treat skin cancer?; Does laser therapy have a role in treating skin cancer? and more...

When a malignant melanoma has already invaded deeply into the dermis, it has a high possibility, not probability, a high possibility, of already having metastasised to other organs or to lymph nodes. The original primary lesion is easily removed surgically, with some margin usually around 1 to 2 centimetres depending on the nature of the lesion. The skin is then brought together and sewn together and that lesion is gone. However, if the cells have gone elsewhere; if they have been found in the nose or been found in the adjacent skin, or in some of the organs inside the body, then additional, more aggressive treatment is necessary for this skin cancer. Radiation, for instance, is not very effective in malignant melanoma; chemotherapy is variably effective but certainly not as effective as it is in other fields. That, of course, is a constantly changing field whereby new chemotherapeutic agents and new approaches are being derived all the time. Also, immunotherapy, where the immune system is marshalled in order to kill some of these cells which are left in the primary tumour, is a major interest in malignant melanoma, as well as vaccines. These are all potentially on the horizon.