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Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy in Head and Neck Melanoma: Long-term Outcomes, Prognostic Value, Accuracy, and Safety
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy in Head and Neck Melanoma: Long-term Outcomes, Prognostic Value, Accuracy, and Safety

John E Hanks, Kevin J Kovatch, S Ahmed Ali, Emily Roberts, Alison B Durham, Joshua D Smith, Carol R Bradford, Kelly M Malloy, Philip S Boonstra, Christopher D Lao, …
Otolaryngology-head and neck surgery, Vol.162(4), pp.520-529
04/2020
DOI: 10.1177/0194599819899934
PMCID: PMC8012010
PMID: 32041486

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Abstract

To evaluate the long-term outcomes of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) for head and neck cutaneous melanoma (HNCM). Retrospective cohort study. Tertiary academic medical center. Longitudinal review of a 356-patient cohort with HNCM undergoing SLNB from 1997 to 2007. Descriptive characteristics included the following: age, 53.5 ± 19 years (mean ± SD); sex, 26.8% female; median follow-up, 4.9 years; and Breslow depth, 2.52 ± 1.87 mm. Overall, 75 (21.1%) patients had a positive SLNB. Among patients undergoing completion lymph node dissection following positive SLNB, 20 (27.4%) had at least 1 additional positive nonsentinel lymph node. Eighteen patients with local control and negative SLNB developed regional disease, indicating a false omission rate of 6.4%, including 10 recurrences in previously unsampled basins. Ten-year overall survival (OS) and melanoma-specific survival (MSS) were significantly greater in the negative sentinel lymph node (SLN) cohort (OS, 61% [95% CI, 0.549-0.677]; MSS, 81.9% [95% CI, 0.769-0.873]) than the positive SLN cohort (OS, 31% [95% CI, 0.162-0.677]; MSS, 60.3% [95% CI, 0.464-0.785]) and positive SLN/positive nonsentinel lymph node cohort (OS, 8.4% [95% CI, 0.015-0.474]; MSS, 9.6% [95% CI, 0.017-0.536]). OS was significantly associated with SLN positivity (hazard ratio [HR], 2.39; < .01), immunosuppression (HR, 2.37; < .01), angiolymphatic invasion (HR, 1.91; < .01), and ulceration (HR, 1.86; < .01). SLN positivity (HR, 3.13; < .01), angiolymphatic invasion (HR, 3.19; < .01), and number of mitoses ( = .0002) were significantly associated with MSS. Immunosuppression (HR, 3.01; < .01) and SLN status (HR, 2.84; < .01) were associated with recurrence-free survival, and immunosuppression was the only factor significantly associated with regional recurrence (HR, 6.59; < .01). Long-term follow up indicates that SLNB showcases durable accuracy, safety, and prognostic importance for cutaneous HNCM.
Adolescent Adult Aged Aged, 80 and over Child Child, Preschool Cohort Studies Female Head and Neck Neoplasms - mortality Head and Neck Neoplasms - pathology Humans Male Melanoma - mortality Melanoma - pathology Middle Aged Prognosis Reproducibility of Results Retrospective Studies Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy - adverse effects Skin Neoplasms - mortality Skin Neoplasms - pathology Survival Rate Time Factors Treatment Outcome Young Adult

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