Dr. Sznol Discusses the Role of Surgery in Melanoma

Mario Sznol, MD, professor of medicine, co-director, Yale SPORE in Skin Cancer, Yale Cancer Center, discusses the role of surgery in the treatment of patients with melanoma.

The role of surgery in melanoma is not going away, says Sznol. Even with the effective systemic therapies in place for this disease, sometimes surgery is warranted and can lead to a longer survival.

Although several patients in the metastatic setting tend to benefit from immunotherapy, some patients will not achieve a complete response and lesions will remain. If those lesions are resected, some patients remain progression-free for a long period of time.