staging is commonly used in melanoma diagnosis and treatment to indicate the advancement and severity of cancer in a patient. melanoma stages range between 0-iv based on the tnm (tumour, nodes, metastasis) system. the tnm system is dictated by the size of the primary (first) tumour, the occurrence of cancer cells in the surrounding lymph nodes, whether the cancer has metastasized (spread to other regions in the body), and whether there is ulceration (if there is ulceration, the skin covering the melanoma cannot clearly be seen). while these figures can be intimidating in the later stages, the staging system is imperative for dictating the treatment process a patient will undergo.
stage 0
is thin melanoma which has not penetrated (invaded) the deeper layers of the skin (in situ).
stages i and ii
are melanomas that are limited to the skin. these melanomas vary in how thick they are and whether the skin covering the melanoma is ulcerated or not. thicker melanomas and ulcerated melanomas have a higher risk of recurring.
stage
ii
i is melanoma that has spread from the original site of your melanoma to 1 or more of the nearby lymph nodes or to the nearby skin/tissue in between. stage iii melanoma is divided into 4 groups, a, b, c, and d.