After you receive a diagnosis of melanoma, your doctor will discuss a course of action based on a number of factors including your age, general health, and the location, type, and stage of your disease.

Treatments are available for all people with melanoma. In many cases, the standard treatment is surgery to remove the tumor and a surrounding area of normal-appearing skin. Sometimes surgery is followed by additional therapy such as immunotherapy, chemotherapy, radiation, or a combination of these treatments. Chemotherapy and immunotherapy are also used to treat advanced or recurrent melanoma.

A variety of experimental treatments for advanced inoperable, and operable, potentially curable melanoma are being investigated in clinical trials, research studies to evaluate new therapies and improve cancer care. These studies are responsible for most of the advances in cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

In this section, you will find information about types of treatment for melanoma, standard treatments for each stage of melanoma, as well as experimental treatments for which you may be eligible.