What can I expect after a diagnosis of Stage 3 melanoma?
Your doctors will try to remove the melanoma with surgery. Adjuvant treatment will also be discussed with you. If your melanoma is considered inoperable, you may be considered for immunotherapy or targeted therapy.
See here for further information on immunotherapy
Your melanoma may be tested to see if it carries a faulty BRAF gene sometimes called a BRAF mutation. The results of this test can take a few weeks. If you do have this faulty gene, which may be called BRAF positive, your melanoma produces more BRAF proteins and may grow quicker. It helps to know whether you are BRAF positive as doctors have the option of giving you targeted therapies that block BRAF and therefore treat your melanoma in this way.
View our video for further information on BRAF
See more information on adjuvant therapy
Stage 3 melanoma includes where the melanoma has spread to areas of skin, near the original cancer but away from the primary tumour. These are called ‘in-transit’ or ‘satellite lesions’. In such cases, doctors will try and remove these melanomas. If the melanoma cannot be easily removed, you could be considered for other treatments that include electrochemotherapy, isolated limb perfusion/infusion or T-VEC.
Learn more about other treatments when your melanoma cannot be removed with surgery