For melanomas that are in stages one, two and three, the usual treatment is surgery, in combination with chemotherapy, immunotherapy or radiation therapy. Chemotherapy is either used as a systemic therapy or localized therapy where chemicals through perfusion and infusion techniques are administered to the cancer site. Certain forms of therapy in immunotherapy are still in the experimental stages. There are two commonly used therapies today which are interferon and interleukin. Interferon is a substance that is naturally produced by the human body which boosts the body s resistance to the cancer cells.
Interleukin stimulates the body to produce more white blood cells.
Vaccine therapy in immunotherapy is the one that is still in the experimental stages. It uses cancer cells that are made into a vaccine and injected into the patient. Sometimes the cells are from the patient s own cancer tumor, sometimes it is made from tumors from others. The cells can be dead or alive and are sometimes mixed with other known immune response enhancers. Finally radiation therapy is radiation that is directed at the localized site to kill or damage the tumor.