Sentinel lymph node biopsy in cutaneous melanoma: outcome after 5-years follow-up

Sentinel lymph node procedure for cutaneous melanoma is largely used and sentinel lymph node status is an important prognostic factor. Few French centers have reported their experience and data. We analysed technique feasibility, recurrence-free and overall-survival rates at 36 and 60 months for the first 62 patients submitted to this technique. The positivity of sentinel lymph nodes was 17.7%. Recurrence-free survival at 36 and 60 months was of 85% and 78% respectively for patients with negative sentinel lymph nodes, whereas the rates were of 45% and 36% respectively for patients with positive sentinel lymph nodes (p = 0.0046). The overall survival rate was of 94% at 36 months and 85% at 60 months for negative patients as opposed to 82% at 36 months and 47% at 60 months for positive patients (p = 0.0019). In our experience, sentinel lymph node technique is a safe procedure with few complications and good pronostic value. This technique allows the identification of patients with a high risk of recurrence who could benefit from early adjuvant therapeutic management. However, these results show that the survival rate of patients with positive sentinel lymph nodes remains significantly lower, even when elective lymph node dissection is performed.