Sentinel node biopsy safe, effective In head and neck melanomas, U-M Study Finds

A common technique to determine whether melanoma has spread can be used safely and effectively even in tumors from the head and neck area, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Sentinel lymph node biopsy involves injecting a special dye to identify the first node where cancer would probably spread. If that node is clean, patients can prevent further debilitating surgery to delete multiple lymph nodes. If that node shows cancer patients know that they have the more extensive surgery or further treatment with radiation, chemotherapy or a clinical trial. Patients with melanoma of a certain size or larger are routinely offered for this procedure.

But many surgeons believed that the complex Anatomy combined with the critical nerves and blood vessels in the head and neck area created sentinel lymph node biopsy unsafe and inaccurate for melanomas in that region.

In the present study, which appears online in cancer, researchers looked at 353 head and neck melanoma patients with sentinel lymph node biopsy on U-M had received over a period of 10 years. After reviewing patients ' records, the researchers found that the sentinel lymph node could be identified in all but one patient, and no patients permanent nerve injury incurred during the proceedings.

About 20 percent of the patients had at least one sentinel node positive for cancer and were designed for a full dissection to extra lymphatic glands.

Among the remaining 283 patients with negative sentinel nodes occurred 12 patients in the region where the sentinel lymph node is identified. This suggests that the test 12 false-negative results which means that a negative test was incorrect 4 percent of the time. This rate is similar when sentinel lymph node biopsy is used for melanomas in other parts of the body.

"Sentinel lymph node biopsy is a safe and efficient way to view the status of the regional nodes basin for melanomas affect the head and neck region. In addition, our study showed that it can be accurately done for these patients, "says study author Carol Bradford, M.D., Professor and Chair of otolaryngology at the U-M Medical School.

Also, the researchers found that sentinel lymph node biopsy was the biggest Predictor of how well a patient after surgery would do, including overall survival and recurrence-free survival.

"This procedure must be provided in patients with head and neck, occurred the same as patients with melanomas in other parts of the body. Not only is sentinel lymph node biopsy feasible and safe in these patients, but it helps to determine the best course of treatment to offer patients the best hope for survival, "says Bradford.

Source: University of Michigan Health System