Stages and types of melanoma skin cancer
The stage of melanoma skin cancer tells you how thick it is and how far it has spread.
Doctors use different systems to stage melanoma. These include the TNM system and number staging system. The number staging system goes from stage 0 to stage 4. Stage 0 melanoma is also called melanoma in situ.
They might also use the Breslow thickness to describe how deeply the melanoma has grown into your skin.
Types of melanoma
Melanoma starts in cells called melanocytes. You have these in your skin and other parts of your body including your eye. There are different types of melanoma skin cancer.
TNM Staging for melanoma skin cancer
The TNM stage is a way of describing how thick the melanoma is and if it has spread. TNM stands for Tumour, Node, Metastasis.
Breslow thickness for melanoma skin cancer
The Breslow thickness describes how deeply the melanoma has gone into the skin. Doctors use this to work out the Tumour (T) stage of the melanoma.
Melanoma skin cancer in situ (stage 0)
Melanoma in situ is also called stage 0 melanoma. It means the cancer cells are contained in the top layer of skin and have not spread.
Stage 1 melanoma skin cancer
Stage 1 means the melanoma is only in the skin. There is no sign that it has spread to lymph nodes or other parts of the body.
Stage 2 melanoma skin cancer
Stage 2 melanoma is only in the skin. There is no sign that it has spread to nearby lymph nodes or other parts of the body.
Stage 3 melanoma skin cancer
Stage 3 means the melanoma has spread to nearby lymph nodes. Or it has spread to an area between the melanoma and the nearby lymph nodes.
Stage 4 melanoma skin cancer
Stage 4 melanoma skin cancer has spread to other parts of the body. It is also called advanced melanoma skin cancer.
