Impact of Sentinel Node Status and Other Risk Factors on the Clinical Outcome of Head and Neck Melanoma Patients

Abstract

To determine the impact of sentinel lymph node (SLN) status and other risk factors on recurrence and overall survival in head and neck melanoma patients. Design: The SLN Working Group, based in San Francisco, Calif, with its 11 member centers, the John Wayne Cancer Institute, and The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center pooled data on 629 primary head and neck melanoma patients who had selective sentinel lymphadenectomy. A total of 614 subjects were analyzable. All centers obtained internal review board approval and adhered to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 regulations. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to identify factors associated with overall and disease-free survival. Setting: Tertiary care medical centers. Main Outcome Measure: Clinical outcome of head and neck melanoma patients undergoing selective sentinel lymphadenectomy. Results: Overall, 10.1% (n=62) of the subjects had at least Author Affiliations are listed at the end of this article. Group Information: A list of the members of the Sentinel Lymph Node Working Group appears on page 373.

Tumor Location Predicts Survival in Cutaneous Head and Neck Melanoma

“…Although upon univariate Kaplan-Meier survival analysis in which tumor location did not appear to offer prognostic significance, after adjusting for important tumor and patient related characteristics, patients with scalp/neck melanoma demonstrated a 20% increased risk of death due to any cause and a 64% increased risk of melanoma-related death relative to patients with facial melanomas. These findings confirm the findings reported by Leong and the Sentinel Lymph Node Working Group(23). They reported a series of 614 patients with CHNM who underwent sentinel node biopsy and found that those with scalp melanomas had more than a 3-fold increased risk of death relative to melanomas of the face.…”

Prognostic implication of sentinel lymph node biopsy in cutaneous head and neck melanoma

“…Our DFS and DSS rates for patients with SLN‐positive and SLN‐negative patients show similar trends to previously reported results 8. Both show the significant prognostic implications of a positive SLN.…”

Long‐Term Prognosis and Significance of the Sentinel Lymph Node in Head and Neck Melanoma

“…In our patients, SLN status was the most important prognostic factor for DFS and OS, with a significant increase in recurrence and death in SLN‐positive compared with SLN‐negative patients. Sentinel lymph node positivity was 11%, which is similar to other HNM large series, which generally range from 10% to 15% 1,9 ,18, 35–37 . Other studies have rates between 15% and 19% 19,26 .…”