Managing malignant melanoma. Plast Reconstr Surg 2013 Sep;132(3):446e-460e
Date
08/30/2013Pubmed ID
23985656DOI
10.1097/PRS.0b013e31829ad411Scopus ID
2-s2.0-84883594298 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 50 CitationsAbstract
The incidence of melanoma is increasing worldwide. Melanomas represent 3 percent of all skin cancers but 65 percent of skin cancer deaths. Melanoma is now the fifth most common cancer diagnosed in the United States. Excisional biopsy should be performed for lesions suspicious for melanoma. The pathologist's report provides essential information for surgical treatment; the most important information is the Breslow depth of the lesion. In addition to wide surgical excision of the primary lesion, sentinel lymph node biopsy is the standard of care for early identification of regional metastasis. Nodal metastasis found in the sentinel lymph node biopsy should be followed with a complete lymph node dissection. Although surgery remains the primary treatment of melanoma, recent advances in chemotherapy may offer further survival benefits to patients with metastatic disease.
Author List
Dzwierzynski WWAuthor
William W. Dzwierzynski MD Professor in the Plastic Surgery department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
Antineoplastic AgentsBiopsy
Chemotherapy, Adjuvant
Humans
Lymph Node Excision
Lymphatic Metastasis
Melanoma
Neoplasm Metastasis
Neoplasm Staging
Radiotherapy, Adjuvant
Risk Factors
Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy
Skin
Skin Neoplasms
