An alternative for those cases, especially among people younger than 60, is the use of microscopically controlled surgery. In this procedure, a thin slice of the cancer is removed and the bottom layer is examined for cancer cells. This process is repeated until a cancer-free layer is reached. Less normal tissue is removed in this procedure and the patient is spared the risk that radiation used for treating one skin cancer will someday cause another. Either microscopically controlled surgery or radiation may be used to treat basal and squamous cell cancers that have recurred.
Surgery is the only way melanoma can be cured.
Melanomas are usually larger and deeper than other forms of skin cancer and a larger safety margin is also removed. If the disease has already spread to nearby lymph nodes, these too will be removed. If melanoma has spread to more distant parts of the body, lymph nodes, skin, and underlying tissue there may also be removed. Although this cannot usually cure the cancer, in some cases, it could help relieve pain and lead to longer survival. Chemotherapy, treatment with anticancer drugs, has had only limited success in treating widespread melanoma.