Skip to main content
Home
  • Affected by Cancer
  • Healthy Living
  • Clinical Best Practice
  • Research & Data
  • Publications & Resources
  • About Us
  • Home
  • Affected by Cancer
    • What is cancer
    • Cancer A-Z
    • Cancer statistics
    • Interactive body map
    • Check your cancer risk online
    • Treatment
    • Living with cancer
    • Life after cancer
    • For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
    • Cancer support organisations
    • Australian cancer trials
    • Jeannie Ferris Award
    • Information about cancer and COVID-19
    • Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Resources
    • Bladder cancer
    • Bowel cancer
    • Brain cancer
    • Breast cancer
    • Breast cancer in men
    • Breast cancer in young women
    • Cervical cancer
    • Children's Cancer
    • Endometrial cancer
    • Fallopian cancer
    • Gestational trophoblastic disease
    • Gynaecological cancers
    • Head and neck cancer
    • Kidney cancer
    • Leukaemia
    • Liver cancer
    • Lung cancer
    • Lymphoma
    • Melanoma of the skin
    • Mesothelioma cancer
    • Myeloma
    • Neuroendocrine tumours
    • Oesophageal cancer
    • Ovarian cancer
    • Pancreatic cancer
    • Prostate cancer
    • Sarcoma
    • Stomach cancer
    • Testicular cancer
    • Thyroid cancer
    • Unknown primary
    • Uterine sarcoma
    • Vaginal cancer
    • Vulval cancer
  • Healthy Living
    • Lifestyle & risk reduction
    • Screening
  • Clinical Best Practice
    • Cancer types
    • Psychosocial care
    • Multidisciplinary care
    • Cancer learning
    • Australian cancer trials
    • Consumer engagement
    • Shared follow-up care
  • Research & Data
    • Research
    • Grants and funding
    • Support for clinical trials
    • Cancer data
  • Publications & Resources
    • Cancer Australia publications
    • Position statements
    • Clinical Practice Guidelines
    • Cancer Australia websites
    • Cancer risk online tools
    • Other tools and resources
    • Podcasts
    • Subscribe to our eNewsletter
    • Glossary
  • About Us
    • Strategic Plan 2014-2019
    • Organisational structure
    • Accountability and reporting
    • Position Statements
    • Who we work with
    • Lung Cancer Screening enquiry
    • National Pancreatic Cancer Roadmap
    • News
    • Media
    • Campaigns & events
    • Information publication scheme
    • Reconciliation action plan
    • Employment opportunities
    • Contact us

Melanoma of the skin

melanoma-mm affected-cancer/cancer-types/melanoma/what-melanoma
    • Home
    • Types
    • Statistics
    • Risk factors
    • Symptoms
    • Diagnosis
    • Treatment
    • Finding support
    • Clinical trials
    • Health professionals
    • Home
    • Types
    • Statistics
    • Risk factors
    • Symptoms
    • Diagnosis
    • Treatment
    • Finding support
    • Clinical trials
    • Health professionals
  1. Home
  2. Diagnosis

How is melanoma diagnosed?

  • Printer-friendly version
  • A|A

You might have a number of tests to investigate your symptoms and confirm a diagnosis of melanoma, including:

  • medical history
  • physical examination of the skin for moles or other pigmented areas that look abnormal in size, shape, colour or texture
  • physical examination of lymph nodes to see if they are enlarged
  • dermatoscopy, where a light source and magnifying glass are used to see spots on the skin more clearly
  • biopsy, where a small sample of skin is removed to be examined under a microscope; this may involve
    • shave biopsy of the skin: the top layers of the skin are shaved off
    • punch biopsy of the skin: a deeper sample of skin is removed using a tool that punches through all the skin layers
    • incisional or excisional biopsy of the skin: a surgical knife is used to cut through all the skin layers and remove all the tumour (excisional) or part of the tumour (incisional)
    • biopsies of other areas of the body that the melanoma might have spread to: this might include a sentinel lymph node biopsy, where a lymph node near the melanoma is identified by injecting a radioactive substance and/or dye into the skin near the melanoma; the lymph node is then removed so that a pathologist can test it for melanoma cells
  • imaging tests – such as X-rays, computed tomography scans or magnetic resonance imaging – to look for spread of the melanoma to other areas of the body.

Staging

If you are diagnosed with melanoma, you might have more tests to determine the stage of the disease and whether the cancer has spread to other parts of the body. Knowing the stage of the disease helps your medical team plan the best treatment for you.

Melanoma is divided into 5 stages, depending on its thickness in the skin, and whether it has spread to nearby lymph nodes or other organs:

  • Stage 0 (melanoma in situ): the tumour is only in the epidermis and has not invaded the dermis.
  • Stage I: the tumour has not spread to the lymph vessels, lymph nodes or distant organs. This stage is divided into stages IA and IB, depending on the thickness of the tumour, how fast the tumour cells are dividing and whether the tumour is ulcerated.
  • Stage II: the tumour has not spread to the lymph vessels, lymph nodes or distant organs, but it is thicker than in stage I. This stage is divided into stages IIA, IIB and IIC, depending on the thickness of the tumour and whether it is ulcerated.
  • Stage III: the tumour has spread to nearby lymph vessels, lymph nodes and/or skin. It has not spread to distant sites in the body. This stage is divided into stages IIIA, IIIB and IIIC, depending on whether the tumour is ulcerated, and the extent of growth into the lymph vessels, lymph nodes and nearby skin.
  • Stage IV: the tumour has spread to other organs (e.g. lungs, liver, brain, bone, soft tissue or gastrointestinal tract), to distant areas of the skin or subcutaneous tissue, or to distant lymph nodes. This is also called metastatic melanoma.
  • Last Updated
  • References
  • Relevant Links
updated: 20 October 2020 - 3:32pm

American Cancer Society (2015). Melanoma skin cancer www.cancer.org/cancer/skincancer-melanoma/detailedguide/melanoma-skin-cancer-what-is-melanoma.

National Comprehensive Cancer Network (2014). NCCN guidelines for patients: melanoma, version 1.2014 http://www.nccn.org/patients/guidelines/melanoma/index.html.

National Cancer Institute (US) (2015). Melanoma treatment (PDQ®) http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/melanoma/Patient, patient version.

Cancer Council Australia, Melanoma
National Cancer Institute (US)
American Cancer Society

Related information

What is cancer?
What is cancer?

Cancer is a disease of the cells, which are the body’s basic building blocks.

Treatment and side effects
Treatment and side effects

The treatment that your doctors recommend will depend on the type of cancer you have, how advanced it is, and other personal factors.

Living with cancer
Living with cancer

A diagnosis of cancer marks the beginning of a journey full of emotional, psychological, physical and practical challenges.

Life after cancer
Life after cancer

While looking forward to finishing their cancer treatment and getting on with life, for some people, the end of treatment can also be a confusing or worrying time.

A-Z List of Cancer Types

Information on more than 70 types of cancer

  • Bladder cancer
  • Bowel cancer
  • Brain cancer
  • Breast cancer
  • Breast cancer in men
  • Breast cancer in young women
  • Cervical cancer
  • Children's Cancer
  • Endometrial cancer
  • Fallopian cancer
  • Gestational trophoblastic disease
  • Gynaecological cancers
  • Head and neck cancer
  • Kidney cancer
  • Leukaemia
  • Liver cancer
  • Lung cancer
  • Lymphoma
  • Melanoma of the skin
  • Mesothelioma cancer
  • Myeloma
  • Neuroendocrine tumours
  • Oesophageal cancer
  • Ovarian cancer
  • Pancreatic cancer
  • Prostate cancer
  • Sarcoma
  • Stomach cancer
  • Testicular cancer
  • Thyroid cancer
  • Unknown primary
  • Uterine sarcoma
  • Vaginal cancer
  • Vulval cancer

About Cancer Australia

Cancer Australia was established by the Australian Government in 2006 to benefit all Australians affected by cancer, and their families and carers. Cancer Australia aims to reduce the impact of cancer, address disparities and improve outcomes for people affected by cancer by leading and coordinating national, evidence-based interventions across the continuum of care.

If you would like an interpreter to help you understand any information on this website, please call TIS National on 131 450 and ask them to call Cancer Australia on 02 9357 9400. Our business hours are 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

Freecall 1800 624 973
+61 2 9357 9400

Locked Bag 3, Strawberry Hills
NSW 2012

Navigation

  • Affected by Cancer
  • Healthy Living
  • Clinical Best Practice
  • Research & Data
  • Publications & Resources
  • About Us

Contact us

* Denotes mandatory fields
 

By submitting this form, you accept the Cancer Australia privacy policy.

  • Contact Us
  • Copyright
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy policy
  • Sitemap
Copyright © 2021 - Cancer Australia