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Stuart Oncology Associates
Personalized cancer care since 1979

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Melanoma & skin cancer

Advanced melanoma care in the immunotherapy era, close to home.

Floridians live in the sun, and skin cancer is part of the price — from highly curable basal and squamous cell cancers to melanoma, the form that demands the most respect. The good news: melanoma treatment has been transformed. Immunotherapy and targeted therapy have rewritten outcomes for advanced disease, and our medical oncologists deliver those modern treatments here, coordinating closely with your dermatologist and surgeon.

How we approach it

Immunotherapy expertise

For advanced melanoma, treatments that activate your own immune system are now a standard of care — delivered in our infusion center

Targeted therapy when it fits

Roughly half of melanomas carry mutations with matching targeted pills — molecular testing tells us whether yours does

Team-based care

We coordinate with your dermatologist and surgical team, from diagnosis through follow-up

What the workup looks like

1
Understanding your melanoma

Pathology depth, ulceration, lymph-node status, and molecular testing together define risk and options.

2
Staging

For higher-risk melanoma, imaging establishes whether disease has spread — which determines whether systemic treatment belongs in your plan.

3
Your plan

Surgery alone for many early melanomas; for higher-risk or advanced disease, modern immunotherapy or targeted therapy — explained plainly, with every option on the table.

Radiation therapy for melanoma and skin cancer

Radiation therapy is one of the tools we may use in treating melanoma and skin cancer — in selected situations after surgery, or to treat areas surgery cannot easily reach. When it’s part of your plan, it’s delivered with the advanced TrueBeam® system and planned by our board-certified radiation oncologist, Dr. Dan Ishihara, working hand-in-hand with your medical oncologist so radiation, drug therapy, and surgery come together as one plan rather than three.

Common questions

My dermatologist removed a melanoma — why see an oncologist?
For thicker or higher-risk melanomas, a medical oncologist evaluates whether additional treatment after surgery would reduce the chance of recurrence. For many early melanomas, surgery truly is the whole treatment — and we’ll say so.
Is advanced melanoma still treatable?
Far more than a decade ago. Immunotherapy has produced long-term control — in some cases for many years — in patients who once had few options. Outcomes vary, but the conversation has fundamentally changed.
What about basal and squamous cell skin cancers?
Most are cured with simple removal by your dermatologist. We become involved in the uncommon cases that are advanced, recurrent, or in locations where surgery alone isn’t enough.
How do I lower my risk going forward?
Sun protection and regular skin checks — especially after one skin cancer, since the risk of another is real. Your dermatologist sets the surveillance schedule; we coordinate with it.

This page is general information, not medical advice for your specific situation. Every cancer — and every patient — is different. Bring your questions to your care team.