Factors Influencing Disease Progression in Patients with Head and Neck Melanoma

Histological parameters as well as the status of sentinel lymph node are known to be strong prognostic factors in patients with melanoma.

In this study, we retrospectively analyzed 1,384 patients who were diagnosed with head and neck melanoma between 1976 and 2010 regarding prognostic factors [tumor thickness, level of invasion, sentinel lymph node (SLN) status, ulceration, histological subtype, localization, and gender], overall survival, and disease-free survival.

Patients who developed metastases had a significantly thicker tumor than patients without metastases. Additionally, a thicker tumor was often associated with a higher level of invasion (Clark level). There was no overall survival benefit in patients who underwent SLN dissection when compared to patients who did not (p=0.07). Compared to SLN-negative patients, patients with SLN involvement had a significantly shorter disease-free period (p<0.001) and shorter overall survival time (p<0.001).

In summary, tumor thickness is the most important prognostic factor. SLN dissection does not affect the overall survival of patients with melanoma. However, a positive SLN is a marker for a worse outcome in these patients.