Melanoma: Olmos RA

Alazraki N, Glass EC, Castronovo F, Olmos RA, Podoloff D, Anonymous00207. · Division of Nuclear Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Atlanta, Georgia 30033, USA. · J Nucl Med. · Pubmed #12368382 links to  free full text

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van Rijk MC, Teertstra HJ, Peterse JL, Nieweg OE, Olmos RA, Hoefnagel CA, Kroon BB. · Department of Surgery, The Netherlands Cancer Institute/Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital, Plesmanlaan 121, 1066, CX, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. · Ann Surg Oncol. · Pubmed #17009151 No free full text.

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Ultrasonography with fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) has proven to be a valuable diagnostic tool in the preoperative workup of patients with breast cancer or penile cancer eligible for sentinel lymph node biopsy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of this technique in the initial assessment of patients with primary cutaneous melanoma. METHODS: A total of 107 patients with cutaneous melanoma eligible for sentinel node biopsy with clinically negative nodes were studied prospectively. Patients underwent ultrasonography of potentially involved basins and FNAC in case of a suspicious lymph node. The sentinel node procedure was omitted in patients with tumour-positive lymph nodes in lieu of lymph node dissection. RESULTS: Ultrasonography with FNAC correctly identified disease preoperatively in two of the 107 patients (2%). Thirteen of the 22 patients (59%) with a suspicious node on ultrasonographic imaging but a tumour-negative fine-needle aspirate were shown to have involved nodes. Of the 85 patients with ultrasonographically normal nodes, 25 (29%) were shown to have metastases. Of the total of 43 involved basins, 16 contained metastases > 2 mm and 25 < or = 2 mm. CONCLUSIONS: In our hands, the sensitivity and specificity of preoperative ultrasonography to detect lymph node involvement in patients with melanoma are 34% and 87%, respectively. In combination with FNAC, this is 4.7% and 100%, respectively. This yield is insufficient for this technique to be used as a routine diagnostic tool in the selection of patients eligible for sentinel node biopsy.

Jansen L, Nieweg OE, Peterse JL, Hoefnagel CA, Olmos RA, Kroon BB. · Departments of Surgery, The Netherlands Cancer Institute/Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital, Plesmanlaan 121, 1066 CX Amsterdam, The Netherlands. · Br J Surg. · Pubmed #10759748 No free full text.

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability of sentinel lymph node biopsy for staging melanoma. METHODS: Two hundred consecutive patients with a cutaneous melanoma of at least 1. 0 mm Breslow thickness, without palpable regional lymph nodes, were included from 1993 in a prospective cohort study in a single tertiary care hospital. One day after lymphoscintigraphy, sentinel node biopsy was performed, guided by a gamma probe and patent blue dye. Lymph node dissection was performed only if metastasis was found in a sentinel node. Median follow-up was 32 (range 3-61) months. No patient was lost to follow-up. RESULTS: A sentinel node was removed in 199 of 200 patients (mean 2.2 nodes per patient). Forty-eight patients (24 per cent) had metastasis in a sentinel node. Fifteen patients developed recurrence after removal of a tumour-negative sentinel node; six relapsed in the previously mapped basin (false-negative rate 11 per cent (six of 54)). The overall survival at 3 years was 93 per cent if the sentinel node was negative and 67 per cent if it was positive. Sentinel node status and Breslow thickness were strong predictors of recurrence and survival. Minor complications were seen in 18 patients. CONCLUSION: The sentinel node status was a strong prognostic factor, even with a false-negative rate of 11 per cent. Published in abstract form as Eur J Nucl Med 1999; 26(Suppl): S57