The new melanoma staging system from The American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) is described. This major revision includes new criteria for staging the primary tumor (T), metastatic nodes (N) and distant metastases (M) as well as stage groupings. These criteria more accurately reflect those prognostic features of the primary and metastatic melanoma that correlate with survival outcome. Physicians managing melanoma should use this staging system in their clinical practice and in the conduct of melanoma clinical trials.