The surgical oncologist is important in primary management of patients newly diagnosed with melanoma and in coordination of care and follow-up. When a patient is first diagnosed with melanoma, the surgical oncologist provides some of the initial care by widely excising the melanoma at the site where it arose and also by evaluation of the regional lymph node basin. The regional lymph node basin can be evaluated by selective biopsy of the sentinel lymph nodes. The results of the initial surgery are then used to determine a patient's need for further therapy. The surgical oncologist also plays a role in patient follow-up and coordination of care.
Surgical oncologists follow patients for any evidence of local, regional or distant recurrence.
Occasionally, further surgery is needed for a recurrence of melanoma.