Management of Metastatic Melanoma: Nursing Challenges Today and Tomorrow

Advanced and metastatic melanoma is a devastating and deadly disease. No standard of care has been established to date. As the understanding of the natural history of this disease advances, agents directed at interrupting single and multiple steps in the proliferation, growth, and metastatic processes involved in melanoma are being developed and evaluated. Several agents (particularly anticytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 antibodies) are in development. The role of the oncology nurse in the care of patients with melanoma includes understanding and communicating to patients the disease process and goals for care, knowing the various agents and their associated efficacy and toxicities, and learning how to guide patients through the decision-making process.