Changes in the surgical treatment of melanoma malignum at the Department of Dermatology and Allergology University of Szeged over the last decade

Abstract

Based on large international multicentre trials sentinel lymph node biopsy was found clinically relevant in intermediate thickness melanomas, furthermore sentinel lymph node positivity proved to be the single most important factor in overall survival. However, there is an ongoing debate in the literature regarding the need of sentinel lymph node biopsy in thin (<1mm) and thick (>4mm) melanomas. We aimed to analyse the clinicopathologic predictors of SNB positivity and the possible advantages of the procedure.