Resection margin for patients with cutaneous melanoma

Clinicians today can be safer when they decide to treat patients with thick melanomas (>2mm) with a 2-cm excisional margin. In a randomised controlled multicentre trial from Karolinska Institute, 936 patients were allocated to either a 2-cm (465) or a 4-cm (471) margin. There were no differences in overall survival nor in recurrence free survival. Patients were followed 6,7 years.  

Bibliographic Reference:

Gillgren P et al.: "2-cm versus 4-cm surgical excision margins for primary cutaneous melanoma thicker than 2 mm: a randomised, multicentre trial", Lancet. 2011 Nov 5;378(9803):1635-42

Peter Gillgren

Department of Clinical Science and Education, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden