A Randomized Phase III Study of Management of Treatment Naive Primary Melanoma in Elderly Patients

Study Purpose

This phase III trial compares the effect of wide local excision (WLE) alone to usual care with WLE plus sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy for the treatment of older adults with early-stage melanoma. A WLE is a surgical procedure performed to cut out an abnormal lesion and some surrounding normal tissue. This is sometimes followed by a SLN biopsy, in which lymph nodes that tumor cells could spread to are removed as well. Using WLE alone may be just as effective as usual care in treating older adults with early-stage melanoma.