Melanoma Surgery
General Surgery Programs
Dept. of Surgery Websites

Melanoma Surgical Oncology

Michael D. Alvarado, M.D.
Associate Professor of Surgery
Division of General Surgery

Melanoma Clinical Research

Adil I. Daud, M.D.
Professor of Medicine,
Department of Medicine,
Co-Director, UCSF Melanoma Center
Director, Melanoma Clinical Research

Genetic Analysis for Melanoma

Dermatologist Susana Ortiz-Urda, M.D. Ph.D., Co-Director of the UCSF Melanoma Center, discusses novel targeted agents to treat aggressive melanomas.

Hear the Interview »
 

Make a Gift

A gift to the Dept. of Surgery Melanoma Surgery Program will enable the discovery of treatments to treat and prevent the disease.

Make a Gift »
Skilled Surgeons, State-of-the-Art Multidisciplinary Care, Formidable Research Enterprise

A new era is dawning in the treatment of advanced melanoma and UCSF is at the forefront of advances to treat the disease. The Melanoma Surgery Program offers highly specialized, expert, compassionate surgical care for melanoma and other aggressive skin cancers. Published data demonstrate better outcomes and fewer complications at institutions performing a high volume of melanoma surgeries such as at UCSF. Our program also specializes in the treatment of  uncommon and very rare skin cancers, often rarely seen in the community setting and therefore more difficult to diagnose and treat.  

The UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center offers outstanding care where specialized multidisciplinary teams focus on specific cancers. Patients are evaluated at the UCSF Melanoma Center, a center of excellence for the region, by a team that includes surgical oncologists, head and neck surgeons, reconstructive surgeons, medical oncologists, radiologists, dermatologists, dermatopathologists, radiologists, geneticists, clinical trial coordinators and psychotherapists. Each patient receives state-of-the-art care and a personalized treatment plan with weekly review of cases at the Melanoma Tumor Board conference.

Researchers at UCSF are dedicated to understanding the biology of melanoma and to finding treatments that are both effective and durable. Principal Investigators at UCSF lead some on the most innovative and promising clinical trials  for melanoma and other aggressive skin cancers, some combining multiple novel agents to target melanoma-specific pathways and receptors, a new paradigm in cancer research.