<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><sec id="j_raon-2020-0056_s_001_w2aab3b7b3b1b6b1aab1c16b1Aa"><h3>Background</h3><p>Two prospective randomized studies analysing cutaneous melanoma (CM) patients with sentinel lymph node (SLN) metastases and rapid development of systemic adjuvant therapy have changed our approach to stage III CM treatment. The aim of this study was to compare results of retrospective survival analysis of stage III CM patients’ treatment from Slovenian national CM register to leading international clinical guidelines.</p></sec><sec id="j_raon-2020-0056_s_002_w2aab3b7b3b1b6b1aab1c16b2Aa"><h3>Patients and methods</h3><p>Since 2000, all Slovenian CM patients with primary tumour ≥ TIb are treated at the Institute of Oncology Ljubljana and data are prospectively collected into a national CM registry. A retrospective analysis of 2426 sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsies and 789 lymphadenectomies performed until 2015 was conducted using Kaplan-Meier survival curves and log-rank tests.</p></sec><sec id="j_raon-2020-0056_s_003_w2aab3b7b3b1b6b1aab1c16b3Aa"><h3>Results</h3><p>Positive SLN was found in 519/2426 (21.4%) of patients and completion dissection (CLND) was performed in 455 patients. The 5-year overall survival (OS) of CLND group was 58% <italic>vs</italic>. 47% of metachronous metastases group (MLNM) (p = 0.003). The 5-year OS of patients with lymph node (LN) metastases and unknown primary site (UPM) was 45% <italic>vs</italic>. 21% of patients with synchronous LN metastasis. Patients with SLN tumour burden &lt; 0.3 mm had 5-year OS similar to SLN negative patients (86% <italic>vs</italic>. 85%; p = 0.926). The 5-year OS of patients with burden > 1.0 mm was similar to the MLNM group (49% <italic>vs</italic>. 47%; p = 0.280).</p></sec><sec id="j_raon-2020-0056_s_004_w2aab3b7b3b1b6b1aab1c16b4Aa"><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>Stage III melanoma patients is a heterogeneous group with significant OS differences. CLND after positive SLNB might still remain a method of treatment for selected patients with stage III.</p></sec></abstract>

BackgroundTwo prospective randomized studies analysing cutaneous melanoma (CM) patients with sentinel lymph node (SLN) metastases and rapid development of systemic adjuvant therapy have changed our approach to stage III CM treatment. The aim of this study was to compare results of retrospective survival analysis of stage III CM patients’ treatment from Slovenian national CM register to leading international clinical guidelines.Patients and methodsSince 2000, all Slovenian CM patients with primary tumour ≥ TIb are treated at the Institute of Oncology Ljubljana and data are prospectively collected into a national CM registry. A retrospective analysis of 2426 sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsies and 789 lymphadenectomies performed until 2015 was conducted using Kaplan-Meier survival curves and log-rank tests.ResultsPositive SLN was found in 519/2426 (21.4%) of patients and completion dissection (CLND) was performed in 455 patients. The 5-year overall survival (OS) of CLND group was 58% vs. 47% of metachronous metastases group (MLNM) (p = 0.003). The 5-year OS of patients with lymph node (LN) metastases and unknown primary site (UPM) was 45% vs. 21% of patients with synchronous LN metastasis. Patients with SLN tumour burden < 0.3 mm had 5-year OS similar to SLN negative patients (86% vs. 85%; p = 0.926). The 5-year OS of patients with burden > 1.0 mm was similar to the MLNM group (49% vs. 47%; p = 0.280).ConclusionsStage III melanoma patients is a heterogeneous group with significant OS differences. CLND after positive SLNB might still remain a method of treatment for selected patients with stage III.

Completely resected stage III melanoma controversy - 15 years of national tertiary centre experience

Radiology and Oncology

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

BackgroundTwo prospective randomized studies analysing cutaneous melanoma (CM) patients with sentinel lymph node (SLN) metastases and rapid development of systemic adjuvant therapy have changed our approach to stage III CM treatment. The aim of this study was to compare results of retrospective survival analysis of stage III CM patients’ treatment from Slovenian national CM register to leading international clinical guidelines.Patients and methodsSince 2000, all Slovenian CM patients with primary tumour ≥ TIb are treated at the Institute of Oncology Ljubljana and data are prospectively collected into a national CM registry. A retrospective analysis of 2426 sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsies and 789 lymphadenectomies performed until 2015 was conducted using Kaplan-Meier survival curves and log-rank tests.ResultsPositive SLN was found in 519/2426 (21.4%) of patients and completion dissection (CLND) was performed in 455 patients. The 5-year overall survival (OS) of CLND group was 58% vs. 47% of metachronous metastases group (MLNM) (p = 0.003). The 5-year OS of patients with lymph node (LN) metastases and unknown primary site (UPM) was 45% vs. 21% of patients with synchronous LN metastasis. Patients with SLN tumour burden  1.0 mm was similar to the MLNM group (49% vs. 47%; p = 0.280).ConclusionsStage III melanoma patients is a heterogeneous group with significant OS differences. CLND after positive SLNB might still remain a method of treatment for selected patients with stage III.

BackgroundTwo prospective randomized studies analysing cutaneous melanoma (CM) patients with sentinel lymph node (SLN) metastases and rapid development of...

Completely resected stage III melanoma controversy - 15 years of national tertiary centre experience

Article Category: Research Article

Published Online: Oct 08, 2020

Page range: 50 - 56

Received: May 28, 2020

Accepted: Jul 24, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/raon-2020-0056

© 2021 Barbara Peric, Sara Milicevic, Andraz Perhavec, Marko Hocevar, Janez Zgajnar, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.