If you've been diagnosed with skin cancer (melanoma), you want to find the best treatment possible. With early detection, melanoma is almost always curable. Melanoma experts in the Sutter Health network offer advanced diagnostic and treatment options, including new highly effective therapies. Your doctors will work with you to find the best possible options for your condition. Here are some of the services we provide.

Medical Therapy

Traditional chemotherapy may also be used to treat melanoma, but it’s not used as often as these newer approaches.

• Immunotherapy/Biologic Therapy — Uses substances that take advantage of the immune system to kill cancer cells.
• Targeted Therapy — Uses drugs to focus on a specific part of the cancer cells, ultimately disrupting their ability to function and causing the cells to die.

Radiation Therapy

External beam radiation therapy may be used to treat melanoma. It is most often used to treat the area where lymph nodes were removed, rather than the skin area where the melanoma arose.

Special Services

Being treated for melanoma can have a major impact on your life. Throughout your treatment, your doctors and specialists will work with you to provide pain management and palliative care services to help you maintain a good quality of life.

You might also want to take advantage of some of the special services and support we offer at many of our locations, such as support groups and help from social workers, psychologists and nurse navigators.