Management of Regional Lymph Nodes in Head and Neck Melanoma

Mica D E Glaun; Zipei Feng; Miriam Lango

doi:10.1016/j.coms.2021.11.001

Management of Regional Lymph Nodes in Head and Neck Melanoma

Oral Maxillofac Surg Clin North Am. 2022 May;34(2):273-281. doi: 10.1016/j.coms.2021.11.001. Epub 2022 Apr 7.

Authors

Mica D E Glaun¹, Zipei Feng¹, Miriam Lango²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Otolaryngology, Baylor College of Medicine, 1977 Butler Boulevard, Suite E5.200, Houston, TX 77030, USA; Department of Head and Neck Surgery, MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
² Department of Head and Neck Surgery, MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, TX 77030, USA. Electronic address: MNLango@mdanderson.org.

PMID: 35400571
DOI: 10.1016/j.coms.2021.11.001

Abstract

The utilization of sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy has transformed the workup and staging of intermediate-thickness cutaneous melanomas. SLN biopsy, performed at the time of primary tumor excision, accurately maps lymph nodes at risk of harboring occult metastatic deposits from head and neck cutaneous melanomas and represents the current standard of care. Completion lymphadenectomy identifies additional tumor in 12% to 24% of SLN biopsy positive cases but does not affect melanoma-specific survival.

Keywords: Adjuvant melanoma treatment; Completion neck dissection; Head and neck cutaneous melanoma; Sentinel node biopsy.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Head and Neck Neoplasms* / pathology
Head and Neck Neoplasms* / surgery
Humans
Lymph Nodes / pathology
Melanoma* / pathology
Melanoma* / surgery
Melanoma, Cutaneous Malignant
Neoplasm Staging
Retrospective Studies
Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy
Skin Neoplasms
Syndrome