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Age as a key factor influencing metastasizing patterns and disease‐specific survival after sentinel lymph node biopsy for cutaneous melanoma
Author(s) -
Kretschmer Lutz,
Starz Hans,
Thoms KaiMartin,
Satzger Imke,
Völker Bernward,
Jung Klaus,
Mitteldorf Christina,
Bader Claudia,
Siedlecki Katharina,
Kapp Alexander,
Bertsch Hans Peter,
Gutzmer Ralf
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.25747
Subject(s) - medicine , sentinel lymph node , melanoma , biopsy , proportional hazards model , multivariate analysis , oncology , survival analysis , risk factor , logistic regression , metastasis , cancer , surgery , breast cancer , cancer research
In our study, we investigated the impact of the constitutional factor age on the clinical courses of melanoma patients with sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy. Descriptive statistics, Kaplan‐Meier estimates, logistic regression analysis and the Cox proportional hazards model were used to study a population of 2,268 consecutive patients from three German melanoma centers. Younger age was significantly related to less advanced primary tumors. Nevertheless, patients younger than 40 years of age had a twofold risk of being SLN‐positive ( p < 0.1). Of the young patients with primary melanomas with a thickness of 0.76 mm to 1.0 mm, 19.7% were SLN‐positive. Using multivariate analysis, younger age, increasing Breslow thickness, ulceration and male sex were significantly related to a higher probability of SLN‐metastasis. During follow‐up, older patients displayed a significantly increased risk of in‐transit recurrences ( p = 0.2) and lymph node recurrences ( p = 0.0004). With respect to melanoma specific overall survival the patient's age was highly significant in the multivariate analysis. The unfavorable effect of being older was significant in the subgroups with positive and negative SLNs. Age remained also significant for the survival after the onset of distant metastases ( p = 0.002). In conclusion, the patient's age is a strong and independent predictor of melanoma‐specific survival in patients with localized melanomas, in patients with positive SLNs and after the onset of distant metastases. Younger patients have a better prognosis despite their higher probability of SLN metastasis. Older patients are less frequently SLN‐positive but have a higher risk of loco‐regional recurrence.