Cutaneous melanoma accounts for a minority of skin cancer cases in the world but the majority of deaths due to skin malignancies. While there are several risk factors related to the disease, the most significant one is increased sun exposure. When it remains localized, cutaneous melanoma results in good survival rates; however, unfortunately the prognosis significantly worsens with thicker melanomas, regional nodal spread, or distant disease. For local and regional disease, surgery has continued to be an essential aspect of the treatment paradigm; however, for regional disease, its use has been more selective. In the past decade, immunotherapy has begun to play a more significant role for thick melanomas or those that progressed to stage III or IV disease, as it has shown to have impact on survival outcomes. Targeted therapy, when applicable, has also been useful for managing advanced disease. Future studies are underway to optimize the utilization of these treatment paradigms in managing this disease.