Role of radiation therapy in cutaneous melanoma.

Radiotherapy plays a vital role in the management of primary cutaneous melanoma in definitive, adjuvant, and palliative settings. The indications for radiation therapy in melanoma are expanding on the basis of recent clinical trials. The advances of technology in delivering radiation therapy (stereotactic radiosurgery for brain metastasis, stereotactic body radiation therapy, and intensity-modulated radiation therapy) and an increasing appreciation of melanoma radiobiology in particular mean that the role of radiation therapy will continue to expand in this disease.