title: Sentinel lymph node biopsy in thick malignant melanoma: A 16-year single unit experience.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The role of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) and its benefits in patients with thick melanoma is still controversial.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We evaluated the clinical effect of SLNB in patients with thick melanoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a retrospective cohort review (1996-2012) of thick melanomas. Collected data included the patient and tumour characteristics. Locoregional recurrence, distant metastases, disease free and overall survival were compared between the patients with positive and negative SLNB.
  
  
  RESULTS
  126 thick melanomas with a mean age of 64.09 years were included in the study. Positive SLNB were found in 47 (37.3%) patients. Significantly more locoregional recurrence (P = 0.002) and distant metastases (P = 0.030) were detected in the patients with positive SLNB. Furthermore, the patients with negative SLNB showed significantly better disease free survival (P = 0.021).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Positive SLNB might be prognostic factor in thick melanoma and aggravates the outcome of thick melanomas.
authors.affiliation: University Clinic for Dermatology.
authors.forename: Robert E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Hunger
authors.affiliation: University Clinic for Plastic, Reconstructive and Hand Surgery, University Hospital, Inselspital, University of Bern, 3010 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Aude
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Michel
authors.affiliation: University Clinic for Dermatology.
authors.forename: S Morteza
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Seyed Jafari
authors.affiliation: University Clinic for Plastic, Reconstructive and Hand Surgery, University Hospital, Inselspital, University of Bern, 3010 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Maziar
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shafighi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000473:pathology; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D021701:Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013557:Switzerland
keywords: outcome; sentinel lymph node biopsy; thick melanoma