The Utility of Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy in Elderly Patients with Melanoma.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is performed less often for older patients with melanoma. We investigated the association of SLNB and melanoma-specific survival (MSS) in the elderly.

Methods

We retrospectively reviewed the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER: 2010-2019) for patients ≥ 70 years with cT2-4N0M0 melanoma. We used multivariable Cox proportional hazard models to evaluate the impact of SLNB performance and SLN status on MSS at increasing age cutoffs. In addition, we evaluated the association of different factors with SLNB performance using multivariable logistic regression.

Results

We identified 11,548 patients. Sentinel lymph node biopsy occurred in 6754 (58.5%) patients, 1050 (15.5%) of whom had a positive SLN. On adjusted SEER a

SUBMITTER: Kakish H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11467064 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature