Melanoma and Skin Cancer

Expert Melanoma Care You Can Trust

You deserve an expert oncology team that’s experienced in treating your specific type of melanoma skin cancer. At AdventHealth Cancer Institute, our unique whole-person approach to your melanoma treatment attends to your body, mind and spirit every step of the way throughout your treatment journey. With outcomes that exceed the national average delivered with uncommon compassion, you can feel confident and comforted that you’ve found the right team.

Collaborative Care

Our nationally leading surgeons, including surgical oncologists, otolaryngologists and plastic reconstructive surgeons, collaborate with our radiation oncologists, medical oncologists, Nurse Navigators and other specialists — all for you.
Nationally Recognized

You inspire us to be better every single day. We’ve invested our time and energy in making sure we are accredited as an Academic Comprehensive Cancer Program by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer.
Whole-Person Support

Cancer affects more than your body. We offer a team of physicians, nurses, administrative staff, nutritionists, psychologists, social workers and more who dedicate themselves to improving your emotional and spiritual well-being to treat the whole you.

Melanoma is a rare form of skin cancer. It’s more likely to invade nearby tissues and spread to other parts of the body than other types of skin cancer. When melanoma starts in the skin, it’s called cutaneous melanoma. Occasionally, melanoma may also occur in mucous membranes (thin, moist layers of tissue that cover surfaces such as the lips) and the eye, which is called ocular melanoma. Although it can arise in any area of skin, in men, melanoma is most often found on the trunk of the body (the area from the shoulders to the hips) or the head and neck. In women, melanoma develops most often on the arms and legs.

Melanoma Symptoms: Melanoma is an aggressive skin cancer that begins in melanocytes, the pigment-producing cells that give the skin its color. The cancer often develops in sun-exposed areas of the body, such as the back, legs, arms, neck, face and scalp. Melanoma can also develop in areas that are rarely or never exposed to the sun, such as under the fingernails and on the soles of the feet.
Screening is important to help prevent and detect melanoma, so remember to check your skin for any new or unusual moles, growths, bumps or patches of skin and talk to your doctor about any concerns.
Melanoma symptoms can include:
A change in pigmented (colored) skin
A mole that:
Changes in size, shape or color
Has irregular edges or borders
Is more than one color
Is asymmetrical (if the mole is divided in half, the two halves are different in size or shape)
Itches
Oozes, bleeds or is ulcerated (a hole forms in the skin when the top layer of cells breaks down and the tissue below shows through)
Satellite moles (new moles that grow near an existing mole)
Diagnosing Melanoma: Our physicians are accomplished diagnosticians who can perform skin biopsies to help catch skin cancers at an early stage, when they are most effectively treated. If you have a mole, abnormal lesion or other growth on your skin that has irregular borders, changes color or size, is larger than a quarter inch, or develops symptoms such as itching, tenderness, bleeding or crusting, it’s important to bring this to your doctor’s attention as quickly as possible. Because melanoma can spread quickly to other parts of the body, early diagnosis and treatment of these cancers is extremely important.
If you are concerned about any skin lesions, please follow up with your family physician, internist, dermatologist or surgeon. A diagnostic workup can include a physical exam, dermatoscopy or biopsy. Important elements of pathologic biopsy include the tumor depth, ulceration or invasion of surrounding structures. Your doctor may recommend staging assessment through a sentinel lymph node biopsy procedure or a PET scan.
Risk Factors for Developing Melanoma: Risk factors that can be changed:
Avoid tanning beds
Minimize sun exposure (by limiting exposure to mid-day sun, wearing hats and protective clothing, applying sunscreen and wearing sunglasses)
Risk factors that cannot be changed and associated with high risk of melanoma:
Advanced age
Blond or red hair
Blue eyes
Fair complexion
History of melanoma in patient or family
Moles, especially large or atypical
Significant exposure to sun (sunburns) in childhood
Weakened immune system
Melanoma Prevention: Skin care is often overlooked as part of health care, but it’s important to make it a priority. Early detection of skin cancer gives you the greatest likelihood of successful skin cancer treatment.
In your everyday life, you can take these measures to help prevent melanoma and other types of skin cancer:
Avoid UV exposure: Even on cloudy days, your skin can be exposed to high levels of UV rays.
Get regular skin exams: Schedule an annual appointment with a dermatologist. Early detection is key to successfully treating skin cancer when it’s easier to do so.
Wear sunscreen regularly: Consider a broad-spectrum, water-resistant sunscreen that you wear every day with a 30 SPF minimum.
Wear protective clothing and hats: Wear a wide-brimmed hat —the scalp is a common area of occurrence for skin cancer formation. Sun-protective clothing can be a great addition to your outdoor adventures.

No two cancer diagnoses are the same. As you begin your melanoma treatment journey, your oncology team will personalize your course of treatment strategically, prescribing individual therapies as needed. Depending on your diagnosis, your treatment plan may include some, none or a combination of the cancer therapies below.

Options for Surgery

Surgery can be a promising step forward on your path to healing from early-stage melanoma.

Your dedicated team of cancer specialists will work together to recommend the strongest, most effective treatment plan for you. If the melanoma is identified early, surgery may be the only treatment you need. Or, if it has spread to other areas of the body, surgery may be used in combination with immunotherapy, chemotherapy or radiation therapy.

Whenever possible, we will treat your cancer with the most minimally invasive procedure. Depending on your type of cancer, surgery could include one or more of the following surgical procedures:

Wide local incision is the most common type of melanoma surgery, which includes removing the cancerous skin lesion.
Sentinel lymph node biopsy and dissection involves removing lymph nodes near the melanoma to determine possible spread or treat disease.
Systemic therapy involves immunotherapy and cell therapy.
TVEC is a local immunotherapy treatment that kills melanoma cells in the skin and lymph nodes, which can cause the immune system to attack the melanoma.

Learn More About Oncology Surgery

Systemic Therapy

Systemic therapy includes immunotherapy and chemotherapy, or targeted therapy. Depending on the type of melanoma or how advanced it is, systemic therapy may be part of your definitive or adjuvant treatment regimen. Immunotherapy has been a significant advancement over the past decade and has the power to harness your immune system to destroy or slow down the growth of melanoma cancer cells throughout your body.

At AdventHealth Cancer Institute, our oncology experts take an individualized approach to your systemic therapy treatment. Depending on your type of melanoma cancer, we'll determine which drug or combination of drugs is best for you. Immunotherapy or chemotherapy may be used in combination with surgery and/or radiation therapy. Along the way, we're here to support you however we can, answering any questions and helping you stay strong and optimistic before, during and after your treatment.

Learn More About Chemotherapy Treatment

Radiation

Radiation therapy may be a component of your treatment for melanoma. And at AdventHealth Cancer Institute, we deliver it with expertise, guidance and uncommon compassion. Using sophisticated computer imaging technology, we can target tumors in and around important structures throughout the head and body with amazing precision, lessening your pain and leaving healthy tissue untouched. Depending on your diagnosis, your dedicated team may recommend radiation therapy on its own or in combination with surgery and systemic therapy.

How Does Radiation Therapy Work?

Across our cancer institute, our oncology experts take an individualized approach to your treatment plan. Radiation therapy targets specific areas of the body, shrinking tumors and killing cancer cells by damaging their DNA.

When treating melanoma, radiation therapy is usually delivered through one of the following ways:

External radiation, which delivers radiation in a concentrated beam to keep nearby healthy tissue unaffected
Internal radiation guided by ultrasound or using our MRI-guided HDR brachytherapy, a minimally invasive method that delivers concentrated doses of radiation, keeping healthy nearby tissue safer
Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), a high-precision treatment option that sees the tumor in its 3D form and directs intense beams in a more targeted procedure

Throughout your treatment, your nurses and your radiology care team are there to keep you and your support system informed, comfortable and uplifted.

Learn More About Radiation Therapy

Sebastian de La Fuente, MD

General Surgery, Surgical Oncology

Jean-Nicolas Gallant, MD, PhD

Head and Neck Surgery, Surgical Oncology

Tarek Mekhail, MD

Hematology and Oncology

Sabrina Pavri, MD, MBA, FACS

Plastic Surgery

Rajendra Fernando Sawh-Martinez, MD — Rajendra Sawh-Martinez, MD, MHS, FACS

Plastic Surgery, Reconstructive Surgery

Scott Magnuson, MD

Sanjeve Thomas, MD

Tien-Anh Tran, MD

If you’re concerned about specific symptoms or have been recently diagnosed, you’ll find all the strength and support you need to face head, neck or skin cancer at our AdventHealth Cancer Institute. We offer specialized care for all types of this unique cancer, all coordinated through a trusted national network. Explore our locations or let our team guide you to the one that’s right for you, so you can focus on what matters most: healing.

Melanoma and Skin Cancer

Expert Melanoma Care You Can Trust

High-Peformance Program
Delivered With Whole-Person Care

Collaborative Care

Nationally Recognized

Whole-Person Support

What Is Melanoma?

Explore Your Treatment Options for Melanoma

Our Specialists Specialize in You

Peter Peng, MD, FACS

Sebastian de La Fuente, MD

Jean-Nicolas Gallant, MD, PhD

Aaron Domack, MD

Tarek Mekhail, MD

Gregory Neel, MD

James Mayo, MD

Sabrina Pavri, MD, MBA, FACS