Should elective lymph node dissection be used for treatment of primary melanoma?
A bicenter study compared survival probability in patients with malignant melanoma clinical stage I, treated by wide excision only or wide excision with elective lymph node dissection (ELND). ELND improved the survival only in men with primary tumors of 1.51-3.0 mm thickness. In female patients those without ELND showed a better survival. Thus, the total group of patients did not benefit from ELND, i.e. its value for the improvement of survival from malignant melanoma stage I could not be statistically proven.
Biess
B
B
Fachklinik Hornheide, Münster.
Bröcker
E B
EB
Drepper
H
H
Klein
M
M
Lippold
A
A
Peters
A
A
D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008197:Lymph Node Excision; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D012737:Sex Factors; D015996:Survival Rate