VIDEO: Surgical resection ‘not obsolete’ in melanoma treatment

Source: Healio.com/hematology-oncolog, April 2016

NEW YORK — Surgical resection for stage IV melanoma is not obsolete due to new opportunities and evolving paradigms, Merrick I. Ross, MD, professor in the department of surgical oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, said during a debate at HemOnc Today Melanoma and Cutaneous Malignancies.

Ross discussed how select patients with stage IV disease can achieve long-term survival with surgery, that surgery can make systemic therapy more effective, the rationale for neoadjuvant approaches and the importance of a comprehensive plan for initial therapy.

“The bottom line is that I don’t think it’s time to throw the surgeon out of the multidisciplinary melanoma tumor board,” he said.