Sentinel lymph node status is the most important prognostic factor for thick (≥ 4 mm) melanomas

Abstract

The status of the SLN represents the most important prognostic parameter in patients with thick melanomas, whereas other parameters such as tumor thickness and ulceration loose their prognostic value.

Malignant Melanoma S3‐Guideline “Diagnosis, Therapy and Follow‐up of Melanoma”

“…Tumor thickness > 4 mm resulted in a positive SLN in 43/75 patients (57.3 %, [144]), respectively 74/152 (48.5 %) [159] and 100/240 (41.7 %) [160].…”

“…In any primary tumor thickness, sentinel lymph node positivity is always associated with poorer prognosis, especially in tumors > 4 mm [159,160].…”

Diagnostic and Prognostic Value of the Tracer-Count-Rate in Sentinel-Nodes in Melanoma – A Cohort Study

“…Given the firmly established link between melanoma thickness (Breslow thickness) and the risk of metastasis to the sentinel lymph node [6][7][8][9][10], it was conceivable that increased tumor thickness would correlate with sentinel node metastasis and therefore increased accumulation of radiotracer, reflected in the SLN count rate. However, such a correlation between tumor thickness and sentinel lymph node count rate could not be substantiated (Table 4).…”

A biópsia de linfonodo sentinela não deve ser recomendada para pacientes portadores de melanoma espesso

“…They concluded that the histopathological status of the sentinel node is an independent prognostic factor for survival in patients with thick melanoma 7 . Several authors recommend the SLNB to T4 melanoma patients with clinically negative lymph nodes (N0), which is independent of Breslow thickness [5][6][7][8][9] . In these studies, the histopathologic status of the sentinel lymph node was, independently, the strongest factor for survival in patients with thick melanoma.…”