Sentinel node status has high prognostic value for melanoma

doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7555.0-c

BMJ 2006;332 (17 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7555.0-c

Sentinel node status has high prognostic value for melanoma

Sentinel node status is closely associated with prognosis ofmelanoma, and seems to be independent of tumor thickness andulceration. Kettlewell and colleagues (p 1423) followed 482patients with melanoma who consented to sentinel node biopsy.At mean follow-up of 42 months, 82% of the 367 patients witha negative biopsy, but only 42% of the 105 patients with a positivebiopsy, were alive and disease free. The authors conclude thatsentinel node biopsy should be considered in studies of adjuvanttreatment, but it should not become a routine standard of careuntil data from randomised trials are available.