Sentinel Lyrnph Node Biopsy in Patients With Melanoma

Introduction and objectives: The incidence of melanoma is currently increasing worldwide. One of the factors influencing disease prognosis is the presence of regional lymph node metastases. Sentinel lymph node biopsy attempts to identify subclinical lymph node metastasis as a prognostic factor in the disease. The aim of this study was to analyze differences between patients with melanoma for whom positive or negative results were obtained in sentinel lymph node biopsy and to assess the impact of the technique on disease prognosis. Material and methods: Sentinel lymph node biopsy was carried out in patients with melanoma of the following characteristics: Breslow thickness >= 1 mm, Breslow thickness <1 mm with ulceration, Clark level IV-V, or regression. Lymphadenectomy was performed in patients with positive sentinel node biopsy. Data were also collected on the following variables: sex, age, skin phototype, site and type of melanoma, Breslow depth, Clark level, ulceration, regression, cancer stage at diagnosis, TNM classification, change in cancer stage during follow-up, and death due to melanoma. Results: Positive sentinel node biopsies were recorded in 19.44% of patients. Positive results were associated with the following variables: nodular melanoma (crude odds ratio [ORc] compared with superficial spreading melanoma, 3.44; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.33-8.90); Breslow thickness >2.0, for a thickness of 2.1-4.0 (ORc, 21.12; 95% CI, 2.60-172.03) and for a thickness >4.0 (ORc, 23.25; 95% CI, 2.44-221.73); Clark level IV (ORc, 8.73; 95% CI, 1.03-74.12); ulceration (ORc, 4.86; 95% CI, 1.58-14.90); T3 (ORc, 4.20; 95% CI, 1.52-11.63) and T4 (ORc, 4.67; 95% CI, 1.27-17.15) in the TNM classification; change in cancer stage during follow-up (ORc, 7.20; 95% CI, 2.25-22.99); and death due to melanoma (ORc, 8.67; 95% CI, 3.62-96.15). Conclusions: These results confirm the prognostic importance of sentinel lymph node biopsy, which facilitates identification of patients with a greater tendency towards disease progression and death due to melanoma. (C) 2009 Elsevier Espana, S.L. and AEDV. All rights reserved.