Skin cancer treatment

What are the treatment options for skin cancer?

There are many different treatment options for skin cancer, which may include surgery, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, radiotherapy, cryotherapy, photodynamic therapy, laser surgery and chemotherapy. The type of treatment you receive will depend on several different considerations, such as the type of skin cancer you have, its stage, your overall health and your treatment preferences.

Treatment for melanoma skin cancer will be dependent on your stage of cancer and whether it is early or advanced.

• Early-stage melanoma: Surgery is often the most common form of treatment for early-stage melanoma, which involves removal of the skin cancer, as well as a margin around it. If the cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes, these will also require removal, known as a lymphadenectomy.¹

• Advanced melanoma: Additional treatments may be required for more advanced melanoma that has spread to the lymph nodes or other organs or bone, and include:¹

Treatment of non-melanoma skin cancer, as with melanoma cancers, is dependent on the size of the cancer and where it is located. Sometimes a biopsy is performed prior to surgery, otherwise surgery under local anaesthetic is the most common form of treatment for non-melanoma skin cancers.²