Chemotherapy for Melanoma

Many people who are treated for melanoma have surgery to remove their cancer and do not need any further treatment. However, your doctor may recommend that you have chemotherapy in addition to surgery if your melanoma has metastasized. Chemotherapy works by killing fast-growing cells, but the drugs cannot discriminate between cancer cells and other fast-growing cells such as hair follicles. That is one reason for many of the typical side effects of chemotherapy treatment, including hair loss.

The three categories of chemotherapy

• Neo-adjuvant

  Your doctor may suggest that you undergo a course of chemotherapy before you have surgery. This may shrink the tumor so that your surgeon can completely remove the tumor and avoid complications. Chemotherapy is sometimes given in combination with radiation therapy, because it can make it more effective.

• Adjuvant

  This type of chemotherapy is used as a preventive measure to kill any cancer cells that may remain after surgery.

• Primary treatment

  Your doctor may recommend chemotherapy as your primary treatment if your cancer has already spread beyond your skin at the time of diagnosis. If surgery cannot eliminate the cancer, your team may suggest chemotherapy to shrink tumor nodules and ease your symptoms.

Possible side effects of chemotherapy

Although the chemotherapy regimens used today are usually better tolerated than the drugs used in the past, you may be concerned about the side effects of chemotherapy.

Talk to your doctor or nurse about what side effects you may have with your chemotherapy and ask for their help in managing these. You may also want to read our Patient Education information about symptom management.