The number of lymph nodes involved with metastatic disease does not affect outcome in melanoma patients as long as all disease is confined to the sentinel lymph node
Jakub JW et al. - In a study to determine whether an individual with metastatic disease confined to the sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) would have a better prognosis than individuals with metastatic disease that has spread to the non-SLNs, regardless of the number of nodes involved, it was found that the number of regional nodes involved with metastatic disease does not affect disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) if disease is confined to the SLNs. Consideration should be given to specifying SLN vs non-SLN involvement in the American Joint Committee on Cancer staging manual. Methods- The study group consists of 229 melanoma pts with a positive SLN who underwent regional nodal dissection.
- Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to assess association of the number of SLNs and non-SLNs involved with disease with OS and DFS.
Results- DFS and OS were unchanged regardless of how many SLNs were positive, as long as all disease was confined to SLNs.
- Among 183 pts without involvement of non-SLNs, OS remained the same despite an increasing number of SLNs involved.
- This was true after controlling for ulceration, Breslow depth, age, sex, and adjuvant treatment.
- Once disease was present beyond the SLN, DFS and OS were negatively affected.
- Among pts with involvement of non-SLNs, there was no statistically significant association between number of positive SLNs and survival.
- Risk of mortality increased with number of non-SLNs involved with metastatic disease.
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