Giorgos Karakousis, MD, provides a general overview of precision surgery for primary and secondary melanoma lesions. In describing the pathology and presentation of primary melanoma lesions and the surgeries available for their resection, Dr. Karakousis offers a surgeon’s perspective on the margins for surgery and reparative techniques. He then reviews the staging procedure for metastatic melanoma, sentinel lymph node biopsy, isolated limb perfusion for in-transit disease, and the decision-making process for surgeries in the setting of stage 4 melanoma. Dr. Karakousis also examines new techniques for precision surgery, including hybrid SPECT/CT for 3-D imaging, glowing indocyanine green dyes to define lymph nodes and tumors and PET/CT scanning to define the progress of early responses to treatment.

Related Links: