Signal lymph node biopsy as a prognostic factor in patients with local forms of skin melanoma

Purpose. To assess the impact of biopsy followed by a morphological study of the sentinel lymph node (SLN) on patients survival with skin melanoma (SM). Materials and methods. We analyzed the results of the 79 patient’s examination with SM of the trunk and extremities; the average age was 52.9±17.4 years. We assessed the number of lymph nodes (LN) in each lymphatic pool, their location, carried out the identification of SLN and performed their biopsy. Patients was treated according the results of morphological study removed tissue. In a case, there were found out metastatic lesion of LN, patients was underwent lymphadenectomy followed by adjuvant treatment if medically required. We performed the assessment of significant clinical and morphological signs for the detection of metastases in the SLN, as well as incidence of the SLN’s characteristics on the patient’s survival with SM. Results. We established that the presence of metastases in SLN is an important factor in predicting the survival of patients with melanoma. 3-year survival of patients with metastases SM in SLN was 56.9%, in patients without metastatic lesions of SLN, survival was 81.2% (p <0.001). Our study shown that the overall survival of patients depends on the volume of lesions of SLN: 3-year survival with the size of metastases in SLN up to 2 mm was 76.1%, more than 2 mm - 29% (p=0.002). Conclusion. The morphological status of SLN in patients with SM should be consider as an important prognostic factor for the disease progression, as well as indication for the correlation with a high-risk group for further adjuvant treatment.

melanoma, regional metastasis, sentinel lymph node, biopsy, survival, prognostic factors

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