Analysis of melanoma recurrence following a negative sentinel lymph node biopsy. (August 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hodges, Maggie; Jones, Edward; Jones, Teresa; Pearlman, Nathan; Gajdos, Csaba; Kounalakis, Nicole; McCarter, Martin
• Is Part Of: Melanoma management. Volume 2:Number 3(2015)
• Page Start: 285
• Page End: 294
• Publication Date: 2015-08
• Subjects: false-negative rate -- melanoma -- outcomes -- recurrence -- sentinel lymph node -- survival; Melanoma -- Periodicals; 616.99477005
• DOI: 10.2217/mmt.15.19
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2045-0885

Abstract

Little attention has been paid to the characteristics and outcomes of patients who experience distant, local or regional recurrence of melanoma following a negative sentinel lymph node biopsy. This article aims to review the published literature on the topic and presents some general summaries regarding this patient population. Patients who experience a disease recurrence following a negative sentinel lymph node biopsy have a worse overall survival compared with patients with a positive sentinel lymph node biopsy. The implications and possible explanations for these findings are discussed in order to both underscore the need for in-depth investigation of local, regional or distant melanoma recurrence among patients following a true negative sentinel lymph node biopsy, as well as increased efforts to minimize the rate of false negative sentinel lymph node biopsies.