The standard treatment for this disease is surgery.
Doctors perform around the affected area, removing or excising the tumor.
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.