Laparoscopic pelvic lymphadenectomy for malignant melanoma

Therapeutic laparoscopic techniques are well accepted in many areas of general surgery. The use of laparoscopy for the staging of malignancy, in a diagnostic role, is not used widely. Urologists use pelvic lymph node dissection (LPLND) to define those patients who are suitable for curative local therapy in carcinoma of the prostate. We present a case of a patient with metastatic malignant melanoma in whom LPLND was employed as a minimally invasive way of staging and treating her disease.