Recommended width of excision for primary malignant melanoma.

Wide local excision for melanoma with margins of 3 to 5 cm have been advocated in the literature for nearly 140 years. These reports have grouped all stages of melanoma rather than addressing primary early stage disease. Breslow first advocated limited excision margins for these tumors. We have been excising all thicknesses of melanoma with a limited margin (1.00-1.50 cm, mostly 1.00 cm) since 1975. We advocate a 1 cm excision margin irrespective of tumor thickness. Clark has shown that melanoma invades in a vertical fashion, and thus one would expect to be more generous in depth than in width on a pathologic basis. Two studies have shown that there is no difference in the increase in locoregional recurrence and no change in death rate from the disease with more conservative treatment margins. Excision of this lesion is not an office procedure. It should be performed meticulously in an operating room, preferably under light general anesthesia.