Source: Cure, May 2025
Key Takeaways
- Melanoma treatment is stage-dependent, with early-stage cases often managed by surgery alone, while advanced cases may require additional therapies.
- Immune therapies boost the immune system to attack cancer, while targeted therapies inhibit cancer growth in patients with BRAF mutations.
- Biomarkers guide targeted therapy decisions, but immunotherapy lacks predictive markers, complicating treatment planning.
Melanoma treatment depends on stage. Early-stage cases may need only surgery, while deeper tumors might require lymph node evaluation and additional therapy, according to Dr. Douglas Johnson, who went on to say that immune therapies help the body attack cancer, while targeted therapies are given to patients with BRAF mutations to block cancer growth.
Johnson is a physician-scientist and professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, where he leads the melanoma clinical research program.