The advantages of routine surveillance scans of your brain are that they increase the likelihood of your medical team identifying spread of the melanoma to the brain at a very early stage. This may increase the options for treatment, which can include surgery, specialised radiotherapy, immunotherapy, sometimes a combination of these different approaches or a clinical trial.
Your medical team will be able to advise whether the advantages of routine scans of your brain outweigh the disadvantages, for your particular situation.
If your melanoma team do find signs that your melanoma may have spread to the brain, they will discuss what this means for you. They are likely to involve other specialists, who may include neuro-radiologists (doctors who specialise in looking at brain scans), neuro-surgeons (doctors who perform brain surgery), neuro-oncologists (radiotherapy doctors who specialise in cancer in the brain) and palliative care doctors (doctors who specialise in symptom control). Gathering all these specialist opinions can take time, sometimes a few weeks, and this will be a stressful time whilst you wait to hear what is advised. The involvement of different expert teams is important to ensure that all treatment options are carefully considered. Your Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) can support you during this time.