How does malignant melanoma cause death?

Malignant melanoma, like other malignant cancers, causes death as a result of the tumors causing a disruption or shutdown of the organs on which it grows, according to UCSB Science Line. The organs affected by melanoma cannot handle the strain of growing a tumor when their normal function is disrupted.

Malignant are those that it spreads to areas other than those where it started or that become increasingly worse, according to MedicineNet.com. Malignant melanoma starts on the surface of the skin and can eventually make its way through the four stages of cancer until it ends up affecting other organs, as described by the National Cancer Institute.