Treatment of local melanoma
Local melanoma is a cancer limited to the skin that has not metastasized. Local melanoma can usually be treated curatively.
Melanoma surgery and staging evaluation
The most important form of treatment for skin melanoma is surgery, where, in addition to the melanoma, we also remove 1–2 centimeters of healthy, surrounding tissue as a margin. If necessary, we will place a skin graft on the gap caused by the removal.
Typically, the melanoma has been completely removed already at the time of diagnosis. In addition to this, a plastic surgeon or dermatologist usually performs a more extensive removal around and below the original tumor. This ensures that any individual melanoma cells can be removed.
If the melanoma is thick or has other features that increase the risk of spreading, we can perform a sentinel lymph node examination, during which we remove the lymph nodes leading to the affected skin area.
Indicators of the risk of spread and recurrence include
- melanoma thickness
- surface ulceration and
- sentinel lymph node findings.
If the risk of recurrence is high, we will investigate the staging of the cancer after surgery with a computed tomography examination of the body.
Adjuvant therapies in the treatment of melanoma with a high risk of recurrence
If the risk of melanoma recurrence is high, you will receive adjuvant therapy to complement the surgery. Pharmacotherapy is able to eradicate cancer cells that may have spread and that cannot be detected in examinations, but whose risk of existence we estimate to be high. The goal of treatment is to reduce the risk of melanoma recurrence.
We use the following treatments
- immunological antibodies administered intravenously every few weeks, or
- targeted medications taken in tablet form.
If you have been prescribed preoperative neoadjuvant therapy, we will use the pathologist’s report to assess whether you need additional treatment after surgery.
Treatment typically lasts for a year.
Updated: 11.08.2026