10.  Your post-op melanoma patient has a single lung met on CT.  What should you do?  What about a single liver met?  Or what if there were palpable nodes in their axilla and supraclavicular areas with a negative metastatic workup?

Answer:
Palpable nodes with negative metastatic work up:  Lymph node dissection.

For a single lung or liver met (Stage 4 disease):  Systemic chemotherapy (dacarbazine, carmustine, and hydroxyurea), immunotherapy (BCG, melanoma vaccines), and radiation (skin nodules, LNs and cerebral mets may respond); used alone or in combination.  On occasion surgical procedures may be indicated to reduce the tumor burden.  Some adjuvant therapy is more effective as palliation of local symptoms.
 

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