title: Current staging and prognostic factors in melanoma.
abstract: The current American Joint Commission for Cancer staging system for melanoma includes thickness, ulceration, and mitotic index as primary tumor factors for patients with stage I and II disease. Number and size of nodal metastases, presence of satellitosis and in-transit disease, and tumor ulceration status categorize patients with stage III disease. Presence and location of distant metastatic disease and increased lactate dehydrogenase level stratify prognosis in patients with stage IV disease. Factors predictive of sentinel lymph node positivity are also studied, particularly in patients with T1 melanomas, but are not always congruent with those predictive of survival.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Spruce Street, 4 Silverstein, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Edmund K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Bartlett
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Spruce Street, 4 Silverstein, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA. Electronic address: giorgos.karakousis@uphs.upenn.edu.
authors.forename: Giorgos C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Karakousis
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008545:Melanoma / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods*; D011379:Prognosis; D012307:Risk Factors; D021701:Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor
keywords: Melanoma; Prognosis; Prognostic factors; Sentinel lymph node; Staging