With this procedure, it is necessary to remove not only the melanoma but also an amount of normal tissue in the surrounding area. This minimizes the chance for any recurrence. The thickness of the melanoma and the depth of skin penetration are key factors in determining the amount of surrounding skin that must be removed. For melanomas that are very thin, enough skin is usually removed during the biopsy procedure, requiring no further surgery. However, in cases where the melanoma was not completely removed during the biopsy, additional surgery is performed to remove the remaining tumor.
Additional surgery is performed in most cases to remove the tissue that surrounds the melanoma.
This tissue is also called the margin. Removing the margin increases the likelihood that all of the melanoma cells are removed. This procedure is necessary regardless of the size of the melanoma. For thick melanomas, a wider exision may be necessary to remove a larger margin of tissue. In these instances, when a large amount of tissue is removed, a skin graft may be performed.