Open AccessEvolving management of positive regional lymph nodes in melanoma: Past, present and future directions
Author(s) -
Rachel Fayne,
Francisco Igor B. Macedo,
Steven E. Rodgers,
Mecker G. Möller
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
oncology reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.637
H-Index - 21
eISSN - 1970-5565
pISSN - 1970-5557
DOI - 10.4081/oncol.2019.433
Subject(s) - medicine , melanoma , lymph , lymph node , sentinel lymph node , dissection (medical) , biopsy , general surgery , surgery , cancer , radiology , pathology , cancer research , breast cancer
Sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy has become the standard of care for lymph node staging in melanoma and the most important predictor of survival in clinically node-negative disease. Previous guidelines recommend completion lymph node dissection (CLND) in cases of positive SLN; however, the lymph nodes recovered during CLND are only positive in a minority of these cases. Recent evidence suggests that conservative management (i.e. observation) has similar outcomes compared to CLND. We sought to review the most current literature regarding the management of SLN in metastatic melanoma and to discuss potential future directions.