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Aberrant lymphatic drainage and risk for melanoma recurrence after negative sentinel node biopsy in middle‐aged and older men
Author(s) -
Kaveh Anthony H.,
Seminara Nicole M.,
Barnes Melynda A.,
Berger Aaron J.,
Chen Frank W.,
Yao Mike,
Johnson Denise,
Parsa Sean,
Quon Andrew,
Swetter Susan M.,
Sunwoo John B.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
head and neck
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.012
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1097-0347
pISSN - 1043-3074
DOI - 10.1002/hed.24094
Subject(s) - medicine , sentinel lymph node , lymphatic system , sentinel node , biopsy , surgery , lymph node , retrospective cohort study , melanoma , head and neck , radiology , cancer , pathology , breast cancer , cancer research
Background Aberrant lymphatic drainage is believed to contribute to the high recurrence rate of head and neck melanomas. The purpose of this study was to identify the clinical significance of unexpected lymphatic drainage patterns. Methods A single institution retrospective analysis was performed of middle‐aged and older men (mean age, 66.2 years; range, 41–87 years) who underwent successful lymphoscintigraphy with sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) from 1997 through 2012. Node status, distribution, and recurrence were assessed comparing patients with expected and unexpected drainage patterns. Results Sixty‐six patients were identified with 55.8 months median follow‐up (range, 5.6–206.1 months). Unexpected sentinel lymph node drainage was associated with multiple basin drainage ( p < .01) and greater recurrence after negative SLNB ( p = .03). Both groups had similar anatomic distribution, sentinel lymph node sampling, histopathologic characteristics, follow‐up, and survival. Conclusion Lymphatic drainage differing from expected patterns is associated with greater recurrence after negative SLNB in middle‐aged and older men. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 38 : E754–E760, 2016