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References

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Clinical staging includes microstaging of the primary melanoma and clinical/radiologic/biopsy evaluation for metastases. By convention, clinical staging should be used after biopsy of the primary melanoma, with clinical assessment for regional and distant metastases.

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Pathological staging includes microstaging of the primary melanoma, including any additional staging information from the wide-excision (surgical) specimen that constitutes primary tumor surgical treatment and pathological information about the regional lymph nodes after SLN biopsy or therapeutic lymph node dissection for clinically evident regional lymph node disease. Pathological Stage 0 (melanoma in situ) and T1 do not require pathological evaluation of lymph nodes to complete pathological staging.

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Note there is only one stage group for clinical stage III melanoma.

  1. Amin MB et al. AJCC Cancer Staging Manual 8th Edition. Springer, 2016; ISBN 978-3-319-40617-6.

  2. Gershenwald JE et al. Melanoma Staging: Evidence-Based Changes in the American Joint Committee
    on Cancer Eighth Edition Cancer Staging Manual. CA Cancer J Clin. 2017 Nov;67(6):472-492.

  3. Balch CM et al. Final version of 2009 AJCC melanoma staging and classification. J Clin Oncol.
    2009 Dec 20;27(36):6199-206.