Smaller operational margins just as safe in high-risk melanoma
The standard treatment for aggressive skin cancer is to surgically remove the tumour. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden now show that a 2 cm operational margin is sufficient, as opposed to the close to 4 cm margin previously applied by surgeons. For the study, which is published in The Lancet, the researchers monitored over 900 patients for an average span of 19 years after surgery.Malignant melanoma is one of the most aggressive forms of skin cancer and one of the most rapidly increasing cancers in Sweden. Early discovery of the disease is important and the standard treatment