Surgical treatment of malignant melanoma.

Surgery alone is incapable of curing most patients with malignant melanoma. Wide local excision and skin grafting are the most important factors in the local treatment of malignant melanoma. Regional lymph node dissection in selected patients with clinical stage I disease is useful in identifying those patients with positive lymph nodes suitable for studies of adjunctive treatments. Studies of the role of bacillus Calmette-Guérin in the treatment of primary malignant melanoma and stage II malignant melanoma are currently in progress in the Surgery Branch of the National Cancer Institute.