Melanoma Clinics

Melanoma services in central Alberta

Central Alberta is privileged to have one of the most integrated multidisciplinary clinics for the treatment of cutaneous malignancies in particular melanoma in the country.  Patients with melanoma and other associated skin malignancies can be seen at either the Kaye Edmonton Clinic or at the Cross Cancer Institute.  The Kaye Edmonton clinic has a low risk melanoma clinic twice a week and a Multidisciplinary Melanoma Clinic (MMC) staffed with dermatologists, a surgical oncologist and medical oncologists. The latter was established in 2007 with Dr. Salopek as director, who has remained at the helm ever since. Prior to its opening, the process of getting an initial diagnosis and treatment plan used to take several weeks and although in most cases this did not adversely affect the outcome, it certainly added to patient anxiety.  Thanks to the MMC, the initial three to four first patient visits become just one visit and all subsequent follow-up visits are coordinated through the clinic.

The benefits for patients are clear, but the medical specialists benefit as well as physicians who work the clinic have the ability to tap into the expertise of the others and can quickly define a coordinated strategy to best treat the patient.

The melanoma clinics at the Kaye Edmonton clinic sees the bulk of melanoma patients in the area from the time of diagnosis, to subsequent staging, treatment, and follow-up.  Patients with more advanced melanoma that require either systemic therapy or radiotherapy are managed at the Melanoma clinic at the Cross Cancer Institute.

Access to the clinic is strictly by referral from your primary care physician (family doctor), other specialist (e.g., dermatologist, surgeon, oncologist, etc.) or health care worker (e.g, nurse practitioner, dentist, or podiatrist). The clinic prides itself on being able to see patients within 1-2 weeks of receiving a consult request, and is open to patients with biopsy-confirmed melanoma as well as those with suspected skin malignancies. 

Information Resources:

National comprehensive cancer network https://www.nccn.org/
Canadian Cancer Society https://www.cancer.ca/American Cancer Society https://www.cancer.org/

Patient Support Programs

Save your skin foundation https://saveyourskin.ca
Melanoma network of Canada https://www.melanomanetwork.ca/
Alberta Society of melanoma https://abmelanoma.ca/

The Melanoma Team