title: Malignant melanoma (non-metastatic): sentinel lymph node biopsy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The incidence of malignant melanoma has increased over the past 25 years in the UK, but death rates have remained fairly constant. The 5-year survival rate ranges from 20% to 95%, depending on disease stage. Risks are greater in white populations and in people with higher numbers of skin naevi.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a systematic overview, aiming to answer the following clinical question: What is the evidence for performing a sentinel lymph node biopsy in people with malignant melanoma with clinically uninvolved lymph nodes? We searched: Medline, Embase, The Cochrane Library and other important databases up to October 2014 (Clinical Evidence overviews are updated periodically; please check our website for the most up-to-date version of this overview).
  
  
  RESULTS
  At this update, searching of electronic databases retrieved 221 studies. After deduplication and removal of conference abstracts, 99 records were screened for inclusion in the overview. Appraisal of titles and abstracts led to the exclusion of 58 studies and the further review of 41 full publications. Of the 41 full articles evaluated, one systematic review and three RCTs were added at this update. We performed a GRADE evaluation for two PICO combinations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this systematic overview, we evaluated the evidence for performing sentinel lymph node biopsy in people with malignant melanoma with clinically uninvolved lymph nodes.
authors.affiliation: Lead Clinician, Plastic Surgery Department, Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, UK.
authors.forename: Andy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pay
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D008545:Melanoma / Q000175:diagnosis*; D021701:Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy / Q000592:standards*