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Would you consider proceeding with a sentinel lymph node biopsy after wide excision revealed 1.2 mm residual non-ulcerated T2a melanoma on the upper back?

3 Answers
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Medical Oncology · The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center / James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute
Answered on · Updated on

Any melanoma with Breslow’s depth of more than 0.8 mm (more than T1a) needs a sentinel lymph node biopsy for complete staging, due to higher chance of lymph node metastasis. Ideally, it should be done at the time of wide local excision, as doing the sentinel lymph node biopsy afterwards may be more ...

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Medical Oncology · The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center
Answered on

Also, now with neoadjuvant looking super effective, we might need to change our work-up and proceed with a PET-CT before any surgery.

In any case, I agree that an SLNB is needed for melanoma > 0.8 mm (some say 0.75 mm) Breslow.

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Medical Oncology · University Hospitals
Answered on

Yes. At this depth, we recommend conducting SLNB.

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