Time to reconsider the role of sentinel lymph node biopsy in melanoma
Abstract The Multicenter Selective Lymphadenectomy Trials indicate that there are no overall or melanoma-specific survival advantages to performing sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) followed by immediate completion lymph node dissection compared with wide excision and observation for patients with positive sentinel nodes. These results make SLNB solely a staging procedure. The role of SLNB in the management of patients with melanoma deserves reappraisal. The potential marginal benefit of SLNB beyond the clinical and pathologic features of the melanoma has not been well studied. The use of sentinel lymph node status alone to accept and stratify patients into trials or [...]
Adjuvant radiotherapy after salvage surgery for melanoma recurrence in a node field following a previous lymph node dissection.
Abstract Background and objectives: Adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) can be given to melanoma patients following salvage surgery for node field recurrence after a previous regional node dissection, but the value of this treatment strategy is poorly documented. This study evaluated long-term node field control and survival of patients treated in this way in an era before effective adjuvant systemic therapy became available. Methods: Data for 76 patients treated between 1990 and 2011 were extracted from an institutional database. Baseline patient characteristics, treatment details and oncological outcomes were analysed. Results: Adjuvant RT with conventional fractionation (median dose 48 Gy in 20 [...]
REPLY to MS#JAAD-D-23-00002R1.
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Has the advent of modern adjuvant systemic therapy for melanoma rendered sentinel node biopsy unnecessary?
Abstract The prognostic value of sentinel node biopsy (SNB) is well established and SNB was therefore adopted as a requirement for pathological staging of melanomas>1 mm thick in the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) 8th edition. Consequently, a negative SNB status became an eligibility criterion for clinical trials of adjuvant systemic therapy in resected stage IIB/C melanoma. However, since the Keynote 716 trial demonstrated an improvement in relapse-free survival (RFS) in patients with Stage IIB/C melanoma, all of whom had SNB staging, some have argued that SNB is no longer required for patients with T3 and T4 primary [...]
Reply to A. Mangla and E. Hindié.
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Longitudinal trajectory of quality of life for patients with melanoma brain metastases: A secondary analysis from a whole brain radiotherapy randomized clinical trial.
Abstract Purpose: Brain metastases are common in patients with advanced melanoma. This study describes 12-month quality of life (QoL) trajectories following local management of 1–3 melanoma brain metastases. Methods: This study assessed QoL data collected during a multi-center, prospective, open-label, phase III randomized controlled trial comparing the efficacy of adjuvant whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) with observation after local treatment of 1–3 melanoma brain metastases. Patients completed the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Core (QLQ-C30) and Brain Tumour (BN-20) questionnaires at baseline and every 2 months, for 12 months. Using growth mixture modelling, QoL trajectories were identified for [...]
Plain Language Summary – Development and validation of risk calculators for people with “thin” melanomas on their skin to predict the likelihood that their cancer will return.
Abstract What is this summary about?: This is a summary of an article describing the development of risk calculators for use in people who develop a type of melanoma on their skin called "thin" melanoma to predict the likelihood that their cancer will return. The article was originally published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology in 2021. How were the calculators developed?: Calculations were performed to predict the chance of people with thin melanomas surviving without their melanoma recurring. Three graphical prediction calculators (called nomograms) were developed, along with easy-to-use online calculators using the same underlying calculation methods. The [...]
Representativeness of initial skin biopsies showing pure desmoplastic melanoma: implications for management
Abstract Desmoplastic melanoma (DM) is an uncommon subtype of melanoma with distinct clinicopathological features. It is classified into pure desmoplastic melanoma (PDM) when the proportion of desmoplastic melanoma is ≥90% of the dermally-invasive component, and mixed desmoplastic melanoma (MDM) when the proportion of desmoplastic melanoma is <90%. Studies have reported a lower sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB)-positivity rate in PDM compared to MDM and non-DM. As a result, some have recommended not performing SLNB in PDM patients. When PDM is identified in a partial biopsy of a melanoma, there is a risk that sampling bias may under-recognise MDM, but [...]