Regional lymph node dissections in malignant melanoma.

Considerable controversy surrounds the application of regional lymphadenectomy in the treatment of cutaneous melanoma in patients with clinically negative nodes; however, therapeutic lymph node dissection for clinically positive nodes has shown clear benefits. Opponents of elective lymph node dissection (ELND) for clinically negative nodes believe that because 80% of patients with clinical Stage I disease have histologically negative nodes at the time of resection of the primary tumor, prophylactic excision of the regional nodes is unnecessary. Some clinicians have failed to demonstrate a survival advantage for ELND. With the recent introduction of sentinel lymph node dissection, it may be possible to select patients who are likely to benefit from ELND. The authors recommend ELND based on the identification of metastatic cells within the sentinel lymph node in all patients with primary melanomas with a thickness of at least 1.0 mm.