Spitzoid melanoma of childhood: a case series and review. (May 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Batra, Sandeep
• Is Part Of: Melanoma management. Volume 2:Number 2(2015)
• Page Start: 121
• Page End: 125
• Publication Date: 2015-05
• Subjects: long-term survival -- lymph node metastasis -- sentinel lymph node biopsy -- Spitzoid melanoma -- variants; Melanoma -- Periodicals; 616.99477005
• DOI: 10.2217/mmt.15.6
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2045-0885

Abstract

SUMMARY : Spitzoid melanomas (SM) and atypical Spitz tumors (AST) are rare pediatric neoplasms. We performed a retrospective, single-institution review and report our institutional experience. We identified 10 patients (median age: 12.5 years). A sentinel node biopsy (SNB) was performed in 8/10 (80%) patients, and interestingly 7/8 (87.5%) were found to be positive for malignant cells. A complete regional lymphadenectomy was performed in all SNB-positive patients, but only 2/8 (25%) were found to have additional lymph node spread. Adjuvant therapy was administered in 5/8 SLNB-positive and 2/2 (100%) regional LN-positive cases. All patients had excellent long-term outcomes (100% survival). This report highlights the excellent outcomes associated with SNB + pediatric SM and AST.