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Review
. 2022 Nov;24(11):1425-1432.
doi: 10.1007/s11912-022-01289-x. Epub 2022 Jun 3.

Surgical Management of Melanoma: Advances and Updates

Juan A Santamaria-Barria  1 , Joshua M V Mammen  2
Affiliations
Review

Surgical Management of Melanoma: Advances and Updates

Juan A Santamaria-Barria et al. Curr Oncol Rep. 2022 Nov.

Abstract

Purpose of review: To review and update surgeons about the evolving complexities in the surgical management of melanoma including lymph node staging and treatment.

Recent findings: Primary resection with adequate margins continues to be the standard of care for localized cutaneous melanoma. Sentinel lymph node biopsy is confirmed to be a powerful tool due to its prognostic value and informative guidance for adjuvant treatments and surveillance. Due to the lack of benefit in melanoma-specific survival and distant metastasis-free survival, completion lymph node dissection is not performed routinely after a positive sentinel lymph node biopsy. Neoadjuvant systemic treatment approaches for advanced loco-regional disease show promise in phase I and II clinical trial data, and phase III studies. The surgical management of cutaneous melanoma continues to evolve with further de-escalation of the extent of excision of primary melanomas and the management of lymph node disease.

Keywords: Immunotherapy; Lymphadenectomy; Margins; Melanoma; Neoadjuvant immunotherapy; Surgical oncology.

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