Procedures
Melanoma and Soft Tissue Tumours
Alongside our specialist breast surgical practice, Breast & Surgical Oncology at The Poche Centre provides expert surgical management of melanoma and soft tissue tumours. Prof Andrew Spillane is a nationally recognised surgical oncologist with dedicated subspecialty expertise in melanoma surgery, soft tissue tumours, and sarcoma, and has published extensively in these fields throughout his career. Prof Spillane is a senior member of the Melanoma Institute Australia Faculty of multidisciplinary specialists and researchers that work together to bring practice changing clinical trials and research to the daily care of our patients. See melanoma.org.au
Melanoma is the most serious form of skin cancer and Australia has one of the highest rates of melanoma in the world. Soft tissue tumours encompass a broad range of conditions from benign lipomas and other subcutaneous lesions through to rare and complex soft tissue sarcomas. Both require careful surgical assessment and, in many cases, specialist-level surgical management to achieve the best possible outcome.
Every patient referred to our practice for melanoma or soft tissue tumour surgery is assessed with the same multidisciplinary rigour and personalised approach that underpins our breast cancer care. The sections below describe the surgical procedures we perform in this area.
Conditions Covered in this Section
Lesion Excision
Surgical excision is the primary treatment for melanoma and for many soft tissue tumours. Achieving an adequate excision margin — removing the tumour with the correct width of surrounding normal tissue — is the most critical determinant of local control and, in the case of melanoma, is directly related to tumour thickness and stage. Our surgeons perform wide local excision of melanoma and excision of soft tissue lesions across all anatomical sites, with careful attention to margin adequacy, wound closure technique, and functional and cosmetic outcomes. Where a primary closure is not possible or appropriate, reconstructive techniques including local flaps and skin grafting are used to achieve the best result.
Lymph Node Surgery
The regional lymph nodes are the most common first site of spread for melanoma, and assessment and surgical management of the nodal basin is an important component of melanoma staging and treatment. Lymph node surgery for melanoma encompasses sentinel lymph node biopsy to detect microscopic nodal disease, and therapeutic lymph node dissection — axillary, groin, or neck dissection — when nodal involvement is confirmed. Our surgeons have extensive experience in all regional lymph node dissection techniques for melanoma across all nodal basins, and Prof Spillane's published research in this area reflects a career-long commitment to advancing the evidence base for lymph node management in melanoma.