Most occur in the skin but some in the eyes and some in many other sites. They metastasise early and there is no treatment that affects survival when they have metastasised. They metastasis widely including lymph nodes, skin, brain and liver - the only effective treatment is complete excision before they metastasise. Summary Pigments may arise as a part of metabolism or from external sources. Natural melanin pigment is produced by melanocytes and protects the basal cells from sunlight.
Sunlight causes melanocytes to become malignant.
Melanomas can only be cured by excision when less than 0.76mm in thickness. This page was created by Avril McCarthy, Department of Medical Physics.