Melanoma when caught early is very easily treated—you simply cut it out, which has a 98% cure rate. Once it starts to invade subdermal tissue or spreads to the

Melanoma when caught early is very easily treated—you simply cut it out, which has a 98% cure rate. Once it starts to invade subdermal tissue or spreads to the lymphatic system, outcomes rapidly become less optimistic. As recently as a few years ago, a stage III diagnosis had around 50-60% 5 year mortality, and a stage IV had a 90% 2 year mortality. Because melanoma is primarily an immune-system mediated cancer, many of the recent advances with targeted genetics and immune-system stimulation help melanoma patients directly, and the "new" numbers on those cases aren't able to be calculated yet simply because enough time hasn't passed. But the general consensus is that they're going to have to revise those outcome predictions a great deal now that we have these tools available. The question of how many of those treatments are affordable is largely driven by the country they're in—many countries regulate the cost of pharma in general, so they'd be more affordable than in the US.