Early melanoma (Stage 1)
This page tells you about treatment for early (stage 1) melanoma skin cancer. There is information on
Treating early melanoma (stage 1)
Very early melanomas are stage 1 on the number staging system. This means they are thinner than 2mm, or less than 1mm thick but ulcerated. They have not spread anywhere else in the body. The chances of a very early stage 1 melanoma spreading are low.
Your doctor will remove the affected mole with surgery. If you also have tissue removed from around the mole, your doctor may call this a wide local excision. If not, you may need to have a wide local excision to make sure there is a border of healthy cancer-free tissue removed as well as the mole. As long as your doctor is sure that there was a margin of healthy tissue removed all around the melanoma, this is all the treatment you need.
What happens after treatment?
Your doctor will want you to come for follow up appointments. Between appointments, contact your specialist to arrange an extra check up if you notice
- Any changes in other moles
- Dark mole-like spots appearing near where your mole was removed
- Any enlarged glands (lymph nodes) near to where you had the mole removed
Once you have been diagnosed with a melanoma, you should no longer sun bathe or use sun beds. This is very important as your risk of developing another melanoma is higher than average.
You can view and print the quick guides for all the pages in the Treating melanoma section.
Very early melanomas are stage 1 on the melanoma number staging system. This means they are either thinner than 2mm, or less than 1mm thick but ulcerated. They have not spread anywhere else in the body. The chances of a very early stage one melanoma spreading are low. The melanoma has not grown deeply enough into the skin to allow cancerous cells to break away and spread.
The risk of spread increases as the melanoma becomes thicker or if the surface is ulcerated. Doctors may use the tumour thickness scale to help work out the risk of your melanoma coming back.
Doctors usually remove the melanoma during an operation, together with a small area of surrounding skin. They send this tissue to the laboratory to check that it is melanoma. If it is melanoma, you will have a second operation to remove a larger area of healthy tissue around where the melanoma was. The surgeon will usually remove between 1cm and 2 cm of tissue. This depends on how thick the melanoma was. You usually have the first operation under local anaesthetic but you would probably need a general anaesthetic for the second one.
Removing surrounding tissue is called a wide local excision. As long as your doctors are sure that they removed enough tissue, this is all the treatment you need.
Your doctor will probably want you to come for follow up appointments. If all stays well over a period of time, your doctor may discharge you altogether.
Between appointments, you should be aware of any symptoms that could mean the melanoma has come back. Contact your specialist if you notice
- Changes in other moles
- Dark, mole like, spots appearing near where your mole was removed
- Enlarged glands (lymph nodes) close to where you had the mole removed
If you notice any of these changes, contact your specialist or nurse to arrange an appointment for an extra check up.
Once you have had a melanoma, you should no longer sunbathe or use sunbeds. This is very important because your risk of developing another melanoma is higher than average. There is more information about looking after your skin after melanoma in the living with melanoma section of CancerHelp UK.
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