Cutaneous melanoma

Cutaneous melanoma is a malignant tumour of cutaneous melanocytes.

This guideline provides advice on the management of adults with melanoma. It covers all stages of the patient’s pathway of care, from preventing melanoma to early recognition, treatment and follow up.

It does not address non-cutaneous melanomas, such as melanomas arising from mucosae, ocular melanomas and other rare non-cutaneous sites. It does not cover management of children with cutaneous melanoma.

The update covers new evidence in:

• pathological reporting
• sentinel lymph node biopsy and completion lymphadenectomy
• systemic anticancer therapies
• follow-up surveillance.

How this guideline was developed

This guideline was developed using a standard methodology based on a systematic review of the evidence. Further details can be found in SIGN 50: A Guideline Developer’s Handbook.

Keeping up to date

This guideline was first issued in 2017 and revised in August 2023. The guideline will be considered for update again in 2026. The review history, and any updates to the guideline in the interim period, will be noted in the review report.

Current < 3 years