Malignant melanoma is one of the most common cancers accounting for 4-5% of all human malignancies and steadily increasing in incidence. The medical management of melanoma patients in Germany can be regarded as largely standardized based upon interdisciplinary guide lines. The results of adjuvant and especially palliative treatment of melanoma are unsatisfactory. Thus there is an urgent need for controlled clinical trials in order to optimize standard treatment approaches and to evaluate new drugs. The treatment of patients affected with high risk or metastatic melanoma within those clinical trials should be standard of care. This overview delineates the most important clinical trials currently conducted or planned in the adjuvant and palliative setting of melanoma treatment.