title: The role of sentinel lymph nodes in malignant melanoma.
abstract: Selective sentinel lymph node dissection should be considered a standard approach in the treatment of primary malignant melanoma. With the combination of blue dye and radioisotope mapping, the sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) can be harvested with pinpoint accuracy. This article compares blue dye and radioisotope mapping techniques. Based on the clinical outcome data of selective sentinel lymph node dissection, micrometastasis to the SLNs carries a poor prognosis for patients with primary invasive melanoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center, 94115, USA. leongs@surgery.ucsf.edu
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Leong
mesh_terms: D004396:Coloring Agents; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000473:pathology*; D008545:Melanoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D011868:Radioisotopes; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D012394:Rosaniline Dyes; D021701:Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy / Q000379:methods*; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D004396:Coloring Agents; D011868:Radioisotopes; D012394:Rosaniline Dyes; C025484:iso-sulfan blue