National Evaluation of the Management of Melanoma Patients with Multiple Positive Sentinel Lymph Nodes.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Clinical trials for melanoma patients demonstrated safety of observation in lieu of completion lymph node dissection (CLND) following positive sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy. Patients with two or more positive SLNs were infrequently included in the trials, leaving uncertainty about their management. We aimed to (1) assess national trends of CLND use in patients with two or more positive SLNs; (2) examine factors associated with CLND use; and (3) examine overall survival outcomes.

Methods

Patients with stage I-III melanoma who underwent SLN biopsy between 2012 and 2021 were identified from the National Cancer Database. Factors associated with CLND were assessed by hierarchical logistic regression. Overall survival was estimated using Cox proportional hazards mo

SUBMITTER: Robinson TP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12689804 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature