What are the possible treatments for Melanoma?

Posted by Logintohealth on November 3rd, 2018

Treatments for Melanoma – Early stage treatments and Later stage treatments

Melanoma can be treated both in the early stage and the later stages. In early stages, a biopsy and surgery are enough to tackle the situation while in later stages many treatments are required. There is a high success rate in treatment in the early stages while low chances of success and survival in the end stages. Therefore, one should consult the oncologist in time.

Melanoma is the severe case of the skin cancer. It is better to treat it early because it has very low survival rates in the last stages. The stages vary from I to IV. Once you have detected that you are suffering from skin cancer or melanoma and determine its extent, you should go to the oncologist for its treatments.

Treatments for Melanoma:

There are various types of treatments available for melanoma. The treatment will depend on your age, size and the stage of cancer. Your personal preference also plays a very important part in determining the treatment process. Following are the treatment procedures –

  1. In early stage:
  • Treating the melanoma in the early stage involves the surgical procedure. A thin melanoma can be removed fully during the biopsy and require no further treatment. Otherwise, the surgeon has to remove cancer as well as the border of the normal skin.  In the early stages, this treatment is enough and sufficient and involves less risk.
  1. In later stages:
  • Surgery to remove the affected lymph nodes – If the melanoma has spread to the nearby lymph nodes, the surgeon will remove the affected nodes. There are various additional treatments before and after the surgery that has to be followed.

  • ChemotherapyChemotherapy uses the drugs that destroy the cancerous cells. The chemotherapy can be given through the vein with the help of intravenous or in the form of pill and travels throughout the body. It can be given in the leg or the arm using intravenous using a procedure known as isolated limb perfusion. During this procedure, the blood in the arm or legs is not allowed to travel anywhere. This helps to target the areas affected by melanoma in a short period of time and does not affect the other parts of the body.

  • Radiation Therapy – This treatment makes the use of high powered beams like X-rays to kill the cells. This can be recommended after the surgery to remove the lymph nodes. It is used to relieve the symptoms of the melanoma. Hence, it is done when melanoma has spread to the other part of the body.

  • Biological Therapy – This is done to strengthen your immune system. This is done so that your body can fight the cancer cells. This treatment is made of many substances which are produced by your body or the similar substances that are prepared in the laboratory. However, there are side effects of these treatments as well. The side effects include – flu, fatigue, chills, fever, headache and muscle aches. Hence, biological therapies are useful in the treatment of melanoma. The biological therapies are – interleukin-2, ipilimumab, pembrolizumab, and nivolumab.

  • Targeted Therapy – The targeted therapy is designed to target the specific cancerous cells and to kill and damage them. They can treat specific vulnerabilities in the cancer cells. They target these specific vulnerabilities which are important for the survival of cancerous cells. They damage those vulnerabilities hence, killing the cancer cells. It makes the use of targeted drugs. These drugs include Zelboraf, Tafinlar, and Mekinist. These drugs are effective only when your cancerous cells have the genetic mutation. Otherwise, they prove to be ineffective. The cells from the melanoma can be studied and tested in the laboratory to analyze the medications. This will also help in determining whether the medications will help you or not.

Therefore, the early stages of melanoma can be treated efficiently and effectively and have a high success rate while in later stages, there is less possibility of success.

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Logintohealth
Joined: August 1st, 2018
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