OBJECTIVES: Melanoma is a skin cancer originated in melanocytes and is predominant in white adults. Skin cancer is the most common cancer in Brazil corresponding to 25% of all malignant tumors registered. Melanoma accounts for only 4% of the malignant neoplasms of the skin, but it has very high lethality. The objective of this research is to describe resource utilization and costs associated with melanoma treatment in Brazil and across the country’s regions; to compare chemotherapy and surgery in relation to patients’ characteristics and average costs. METHODS: A sample of 3 million Brazilian supplementary health care system patients was accessed in a electronic administrative database (BI.2iM) to identify resource utilization in 2011. The search was retrospective and conducted using the melanoma ICD 10 code (C43) as driver. Cost information is in Brazilian reais (US$1.00 = R$ 2.00) RESULTS: 94 patients were identified by the melanoma IC10 code in 2011. These patients sample consumed R$ 9,1 million (mean annual cost of R$ 96,268) with 81% of these costs referred to surgical procedures, radiotherapy 12%, chemotherapy 1% and others expendures 6%. Projecting the number of cases found in BI.2iM in the population covered by health plans in Brazil it would be expected around 1,504 cases to be treated per year at a potential cost of 144, 7 million. CONCLUSIONS: This data suggest that surgical procedures are the main cost related with the melanoma treatment in the Brazilian supplementary health care system. Understanding treatment preferences and patterns is mandatory to analyze new treatments cost-effectiveness ratio.