Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 3, 2026
Single-port Non-liposuction Endoscopic Axillary Lymph Node Dissection in Breast Cancer Surgery
Published on: April 3, 2026
Nonsentinel lymph node status in patients with cutaneous melanoma: results from a multi-institution prognostic study
Sandro Pasquali1, Simone Mocellin, Nicola Mozzillo
1Sandro Pasquali, Simone Mocellin, and Carlo Riccardo Rossi, University of Padova; Carlo Riccardo Rossi, Veneto Institute of Oncology, Padova; Nicola Mozzillo and Corrado Caracò, National Cancer Institute "Pascale," Naples; Andrea Maurichi and Ugo Marone, National Cancer Institute; Luigi Mascheroni, San Pio X Hospital, Milan; Pietro Quaglino, Roberto Patuzzo, and Mario Santinami, University of Turin, Turin; Lorenzo Borgognoni, Tuscan Tumor Institute, Florence; Nicola Solari and Simone Ribero, National Cancer Research Institute of Genova, Genova; Dario Piazzalunga, Riuniti Hospital, Bergamo; and Giuseppe Giudice, University of Bari, Bari, Italy.
Purpose:
We investigated whether the nonsentinel lymph node (NSLN) status in patients with melanoma improves the prognostic accuracy of common staging features; then we formulated a proposal for including the NSLN status in the current melanoma staging system.
Patients And Methods:
We retrospectively collected the clinicopathologic data of 1,538 patients with positive SLN status who underwent completion lymph node dissection (CLND) at nine Italian centers. Multivariable Cox regression survival analysis was used to identify independent prognostic factors. Literature meta-analysis was used to summarize the available evidence on the prognostic value of the NSLN status in patients with positive SLN.
Results:
NSLN metastasis was observed in 353 patients (23%). After a median follow-up of 45 months, NSLN status was an independent prognostic factor for melanoma-specific survival (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.34; 95% CI, 1.18 to 1.52; P < .001). NSLN status efficiently stratified the prognosis of patients with two to three positive lymph nodes (n = 387; HR = 1.39; 95% CI, 1.07 to 1.81; P = .013), independently of other staging features. Searching the literature, this patient subgroup was investigated in other two studies. Pooling the results (n = 620 patients; 284 NSLN negative and 336 NSLN positive), we found that NSLN status is a highly significant prognostic factor (summary HR = 1.59; 95% CI, 1.27 to 1.98; P < .001) in patients with two to three positive lymph nodes.
Conclusion:
These findings support the independent prognostic value of the NSLN status in patients with two to three positive lymph nodes, suggesting that this information should be considered for the routine staging in patients with melanoma.
More Related Videos
07:13Comparison of Predictive Performance of Three Lymph Node Staging Systems in Colorectal Signet Ring Cell Carcinoma Based on Machine Learning Model
Published on: April 18, 2025
05:52Sentinel Lymph Node Mapping and Biopsy for Endometrial Cancer at Early Stage with Laparoscopy
Published on: August 19, 2021