Association Between Patient Age and Lymph Node Positivity in Thin Melanoma.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

More than half of all new melanoma diagnoses present as clinically localized T1 melanoma, yet sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is controversial in this population given the overall low yield. Guidelines for SLNB have focused on pathologic factors, but patient factors, such as age, are not routinely considered.

Objectives

To identify indicators of lymph node (LN) metastasis in thin melanoma in a large, generalizable data set and to evaluate the association between patient age and LN positivity.

Design, setting, and participants

A retrospective cohort study using the National Cancer Database, an oncology database representing patients from more than 1500 hospitals throughout the United States, was performed (2010-2013). Data analysis was conducted from Octob

SUBMITTER: Sinnamon AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5710422 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature