Imaging of metastatic melanoma

Cutaneous cancer is now the most common human malignancy and in the UK malignant melanoma comprises 11% of all skin cancers. Eighty percent of malignant melanoma is thought to be related to excessive exposure to sunlight, particularly in childhood. Although the least common skin cancer, malignant melanoma is the most deadly. In 1999 it killed over 1600 individuals in the UK and by 2004, in the USA, 55,100 new cases were anticipated. The incidence of this disease is increasing more rapidly than any other malignancy and in males there was a four-fold increase in incidence between 1971 and 1997 whilst there was a three-fold increase in women. Cutaneous melanoma is arguably the most widely metastasising neoplastic disease and it has a particularly unpredictable pattern of spread. Imaging has an important role in the management of this disease as the demonstration and delineation of metastases influences management and prognosis.