Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsStage 0Stage 1Stage 2FAQs
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Stage 0
Stage 1
Stage 2
FAQs
Early-stage melanoma (0, 1, or 2) generally means your prognosis is good.Stagesare how healthcare providers determine how far cancer has progressed, whether it has spread, and what that may mean for outcomes.
Melanoma is an aggressive form ofskin cancer, but it is often curable in the early stages. Fromimmunotherapydrugs to surgery, there are several possible treatment options that can be used, depending on the stage.
DermNet / CC BY-NC-ND
Stage 0 (In Situ) Melanoma
Stage 0 is the earliest stage of melanoma. In this stage, symptoms may be subtle, such as the appearance of a flat or slightly raised spot on your skin or amole that changes appearance. Early stage melanoma doesn’t usually cause the same symptoms that might be present in later stages, like weight loss or feeling unusually tired.
Stage 0 melanoma is sometimes also called “in situ” lesions. This means the cancer cells are localized and have not spread beyond the place where they started. When compared with invasive melanoma, the rates of in situ melanoma cases are on the rise in the United States.
These stage 0 melanomas usually are treated through surgery. This means the cells are removed, or excised, from the skin. The provider also removes about a half-centimeter (cm) of the surrounding normal skin, called the margin. This is done to ensure they have removed the cancer cells.
Radiation therapymay be used at this early stage, usually when surgery is not an option.
Some studies suggest that Aldara may be effective in treating melanoma in situ in parts of the body where surgery may need to be avoided for cosmetic reasons, such as the face.
What Does Skin Cancer on the Face Look Like?
Stage 1 Melanoma
Stage 1 melanoma is broken down into two categories, which are based on a value called theBreslowthickness. This measures the depth of the melanoma in the layers of the skin, with lower numbers suggesting less chance the melanoma will spread.
In Stage 1A, the size of the lesion is 0.8 millimeter (mm) thick or less.
Stage 1B applies to tumors that are either less than 0.8 mm thick with ulceration at the site, or between 0.8 to 1.0 mm thick with or without any skin damage from ulceration.
When stage 1 melanoma is more than 1 mm in thickness, your healthcare provider may want to perform a lymph node dissection or biopsy.This is because cancer can spread through lymph nodes, which are a key part of your immune system. The procedure can lead to more precise staging and treatment plans.
Breslow ThicknessThe Breslow thickness helps to determine 5-year survival rates for melanoma. These survival rates are averages and may not reflect your individual case. If the melanoma size is:Less than 1 mm:Around 95% of people will be alive five years after being diagnosed1 to 2 mm:The five-year survival rate is around 90%2 to 4 mm:The five-year survival rate drops to about 77%Greater than 4 mm:The five-year survival rate is around 65%
Breslow Thickness
The Breslow thickness helps to determine 5-year survival rates for melanoma. These survival rates are averages and may not reflect your individual case. If the melanoma size is:Less than 1 mm:Around 95% of people will be alive five years after being diagnosed1 to 2 mm:The five-year survival rate is around 90%2 to 4 mm:The five-year survival rate drops to about 77%Greater than 4 mm:The five-year survival rate is around 65%
The Breslow thickness helps to determine 5-year survival rates for melanoma. These survival rates are averages and may not reflect your individual case. If the melanoma size is:
Lymph Nodes and Skin Cancer
Stage 2 Melanoma
With stage 2 melanoma, the cancer is bigger than in stage 1 but it has not spread to other parts of the body (metastasized). The substages of stage 2 melanoma cover lesions up to 4 mm thick.
Surgical removal is the usual treatment in stage 2, but how much margin of normal tissue is removed depends on the size of the cancer. If the melanoma is:
Asentinel node biopsyalso allows the surgeon to determine if a melanoma has begun to spread, which may change the assigned cancer stage. It is often recommended for stage 2 melanoma, and occasionally for stage 1 as well.
In this procedure, a weak radioactive dye is injected into the melanoma. It is used to trace through the lymphatic system and identify the sentinel nodes, which are closest to the cancer and most likely to be affected first if the cancer spreads.
In stage 2 melanoma, your healthcare provider may also consider immunotherapy drugs as a treatment option after surgery. However, the evidence is limited on how effective these drugs or radiation treatments may be in this case.
Immunotherapy drugs that may benefit people with some stage 2 cancers include:
Stage 4 Melanoma: Symptoms and Pictures
Summary
Melanoma is less common than some other types of skin cancer, but it is an aggressive form that is more likely to grow and spread. Your chances of surviving a melanoma cancer are much better when it’s caught at an early stage.
In most cases, treatment for people with stage 0 through stage 2 melanoma involves surgery to remove the cancer. Surgeons also remove small amounts of healthy tissue around the cancer site, which will vary depending on the size of the tumor.
Other treatments, such as radiation and immunotherapy drugs, may be possible in specific cases or when surgery is not an option. It’s still more common, though, for these treatment options to be used in the later stages of melanoma.
A Word From Verywell
Newer treatments are becoming available for melanoma all the time and even more are being researched. Talk to your healthcare provider about whether you may be a candidate for any of these studies. It’s important tobe your own advocate in your cancer care.
Frequently Asked Questions
Melanoma often looks as if you have a change in an existing mole, or a new one. It is one of the main types of skin cancer, all of which have different features.Learn MoreWhat Does Skin Cancer Look Like?
Melanoma often looks as if you have a change in an existing mole, or a new one. It is one of the main types of skin cancer, all of which have different features.
Learn MoreWhat Does Skin Cancer Look Like?
Learn MoreThe ABCDEs of Skin Cancer
Not always. Melanoma is linked to UV lamp and sun exposure in some cases, especially the lentigo maligna subtype.But it also can develop in parts of the body that rarely see light. Some research suggests a genetic link in nearly three-fourths of melanoma cases.Learn MoreBRAF Mutations in Cancer
Not always. Melanoma is linked to UV lamp and sun exposure in some cases, especially the lentigo maligna subtype.But it also can develop in parts of the body that rarely see light. Some research suggests a genetic link in nearly three-fourths of melanoma cases.
Learn MoreBRAF Mutations in Cancer
9 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
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American Cancer Society.Immunotherapy for melanoma skin cancer.
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Ralli M, Botticelli A, Visconti IC, Angeletti D, Fiore M, Marchetti P, et al.Immunotherapy in the treatment of metastatic melanoma: Current knowledge and future directions.Journal of Immunology Research. 2020;e9235638. doi:10.1155/2020/9235638
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