New Melanoma Treatments Do Not Supplant Surgery as First-Line Therapy
11/14/2018
Although several new melanoma treatments have shown promise, none replaces surgery as the primary therapy yet, according to updated guidelines from the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), as reported in Reuters Health.
“Surgery remains the cornerstone of cutaneous melanoma treatment,” Dr. Susan M. Swetter from Stanford University Medical Center and Cancer Institute and Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System in California told Reuters Health. “Non-surgical approaches (imiquimod and traditional forms of radiation therapy) should only be considered if surgery is impractical or contraindicated, and only for melanoma in situ, lentigo maligna type, as cure rates are lower.”