title: Role of neck dissection in the treatment of melanoma of the head and neck.
abstract: Despite numerous studies, specific guidelines for cervical lymph node surgery in cutaneous malignant melanoma of the head and neck are still missing.In a retrospective study, the modalities of neck dissection (ND), the histologic results, and the outcome in 59 patients with cutaneous malignant melanoma of the head and neck were evaluated to verify the benefit of this therapy.Patients with proven lymph node metastasis often benefit from complete ND because about 50% of the patients showed more metastases in their ND specimen than before surgery. In addition, suspicious but not surely malignant lymph nodes often proved to be benign.This study reveals that patients with proven lymph node metastasis often benefit from complete ND because the number of infiltrated nodes is often higher than suspected; nevertheless, when planning the surgical therapy, the overall prognosis has to be kept in mind.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Jens Philipp
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Bodem
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gülicher
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Engel
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Freudlsperger
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008197:Lymph Node Excision; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000601:surgery*; D008875:Middle Aged; D037981:Neck Dissection / Q000379:methods*; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012878:Skin Neoplasms; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D000096142:Cutaneous Malignant Melanoma