Radionuclide therapy in melanoma

Abstract

Melanoma is being diagnosed more often than ever before. This may be due in part to greater vigilance but there is, nevertheless, a steadily increasing incidence of the disease in the western world. Melanoma accounts for less than 5 % of skin cancers but is the cause of more than 80 % of deaths from skin cancer, and the loss of life years is amplified since some patients die when quite young. If detected early, there is a good prognosis with 10-year survival of around 95 % for Stage I melanoma, but if systemic metastases are present, the prognosis is poor with 10-year survival for Stage IV melanoma less than 5 %.