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Annals of Surgical Oncology
Published in: Annals of Surgical Oncology 12/2015

01-11-2015 | Melanomas

Sentinel Lymph Node Dissection in Head and Neck Melanoma has Prognostic Impact on Disease-Free and Overall Survival

Authors: Ulrike Leiter, MD, Thomas K. Eigentler, MD, Hans-Martin Häfner, MD, Michael Krimmel, MD, Ugur Uslu, MD, Ulrike Keim, MSc, Benjamin Weide, MD, Helmut Breuninger, MD, Peter Martus, PhD, Claus Garbe, MD

Published in: Annals of Surgical Oncology | Issue 12/2015

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Abstract

Background

Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) plays an important role in the prognostic classification of melanoma and is now a standard staging procedure. However, due to the complex drainage pattern and the risk of site associated morbidity, the potential survival benefit of SLNB is controversial in head and neck (H&N) melanoma.

Methods

Patients with primary H&N melanoma with a tumor thickness ≥1.00 mm diagnosed in the Department of Dermatology, University of Tuebingen, Germany between 1991 and 2010 were included in this study. Regarding patterns of metastases, disease-free, and overall-survival, 259 patients with SLNB were compared retrospectively to 218 patients without SLNB.

Results

The detection of micrometastasis in SLN proved to be a significant prognostic factor in H&N patients [hazard ratio (HR) 3.69, p < 0.0001]. A significant improvement of recurrence-free survival (RFS, p = 0.011), regional lymph node metastasis-free survival (LFS, p = 0.007), and distant metastasis-free survival (DMSF, p = 0.015) was observed for patients with SLNB versus non-SLNB. Furthermore, a trend towards better overall survival (OS) was found (p = 0.053) for the SLNB group.

Conclusions

SLNB improved prognostic outcome in H&N melanoma in terms of disease-free and distant metastases survival, reduced subsequent regional lymph node metastases, and showed a trend towards a better OS.
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Metadata
Title
Sentinel Lymph Node Dissection in Head and Neck Melanoma has Prognostic Impact on Disease-Free and Overall Survival
Authors
Ulrike Leiter, MD
Thomas K. Eigentler, MD
Hans-Martin Häfner, MD
Michael Krimmel, MD
Ugur Uslu, MD
Ulrike Keim, MSc
Benjamin Weide, MD
Helmut Breuninger, MD
Peter Martus, PhD
Claus Garbe, MD
Publication date
01-11-2015
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Annals of Surgical Oncology / Issue 12/2015
Print ISSN: 1068-9265
Electronic ISSN: 1534-4681
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-015-4439-x

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