Sentinel node biopsy safe and effective in head and neck melanomas
09.08.11
Category: Scientific News
New study refutes controversy about technique in delicate head and neck region
Sentinel node biopsy, a common technique for determining 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.
Many surgeons believed that the complex anatomy combined with the critical nerves and blood vessels in the head and neck area made sentinel lymph node biopsy unsafe and inaccurate for melanomas in that region.
In the study, which appears online in Cancer, researchers looked at 353 head and neck melanoma patients who had received sentinel lymph node biopsy at University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center over a 10-year period. After reviewing patients' records, the researchers found that the sentinel lymph node could be identified in all, and no patients sustained permanent nerve injuries during the procedure.
About 20% of the patients had at least one sentinel node positive for cancer and were referred for a complete dissection to remove additional lymph nodes. Among the remaining 283 patients with negative sentinel nodes, 12 patients recurred in the region where the sentinel lymph node was identified. This suggests that the test yielded 12 false-negative results, which means a negative test was incorrect 4% of the time. This rate is similar when sentinel lymph node biopsy is used for melanomas in other parts of the body.
According to Dr Carol Bradford, the author of the study and professor and chair of otolaryngology at the University of Michigan Medical School, sentinel lymph node biopsy is a safe and effective way to determine the status of the regional nodal basin for melanomas affecting the head and neck region. Furthermore, the study showed that it can be done accurately in these patients.
The researchers also found that sentinel lymph node biopsy was the biggest predictor of how well a patient would do after surgery, including overall survival as well as recurrence-free survival. They concluded that the procedure should be offered in patients with head and neck melanomas the same as to patients with melanomas in other parts of the body. Sentinel lymph node biopsy is feasible and safe in these patients, and it helps determine the best course of treatment.
The Multidisciplinary Melanoma Clinic at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center includes specialty surgeons highly skilled in performing this procedure.
Many surgeons believed that the complex anatomy combined with the critical nerves and blood vessels in the head and neck area made sentinel lymph node biopsy unsafe and inaccurate for melanomas in that region.
In the study, which appears online in Cancer, researchers looked at 353 head and neck melanoma patients who had received sentinel lymph node biopsy at University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center over a 10-year period. After reviewing patients' records, the researchers found that the sentinel lymph node could be identified in all, and no patients sustained permanent nerve injuries during the procedure.
About 20% of the patients had at least one sentinel node positive for cancer and were referred for a complete dissection to remove additional lymph nodes. Among the remaining 283 patients with negative sentinel nodes, 12 patients recurred in the region where the sentinel lymph node was identified. This suggests that the test yielded 12 false-negative results, which means a negative test was incorrect 4% of the time. This rate is similar when sentinel lymph node biopsy is used for melanomas in other parts of the body.
According to Dr Carol Bradford, the author of the study and professor and chair of otolaryngology at the University of Michigan Medical School, sentinel lymph node biopsy is a safe and effective way to determine the status of the regional nodal basin for melanomas affecting the head and neck region. Furthermore, the study showed that it can be done accurately in these patients.
The researchers also found that sentinel lymph node biopsy was the biggest predictor of how well a patient would do after surgery, including overall survival as well as recurrence-free survival. They concluded that the procedure should be offered in patients with head and neck melanomas the same as to patients with melanomas in other parts of the body. Sentinel lymph node biopsy is feasible and safe in these patients, and it helps determine the best course of treatment.
The Multidisciplinary Melanoma Clinic at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center includes specialty surgeons highly skilled in performing this procedure.
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου