Genetic Epidemiology Unit, King's College, St Thomas' Hospital, London, UK.
J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2010 Sep;24(9):1005-12. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-3083.2010.03581.x. Epub 2010 Feb 10.
Appropriate surgical management of regional lymph nodes is critical in patients with cutaneous melanoma. The use of intraoperative lymphatic mapping and sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) has increased significantly in the past decade. SLNB is performed as minimally invasive procedure that provides accurate staging of melanoma patients with no clinically detectable nodal disease. In many melanoma units across the world, it became the standard for detection of occult regional node metastasis in patients with intermediate-thickness primary melanoma. Use of SLNB in patients with thin melanomas is still under evaluation. Although SLNB has been established as staging procedure in melanoma patients, its therapeutic role is still not clear. Large-scale ongoing randomized trials should elucidate whether SLNB with complete lymphadenectomy has a survival benefit in melanoma patients with early lymph node metastases compared to 'watch-and-wait' policy (observation).
区域淋巴结的适当外科处理对皮肤黑色素瘤患者至关重要。在过去十年中，术中淋巴作图和前哨淋巴结活检 (SLNB) 的应用显著增加。SLNB 是一种微创程序，可为无临床可检测淋巴结疾病的黑色素瘤患者提供准确的分期。在世界各地的许多黑色素瘤单位中，它已成为检测中厚度原发性黑色素瘤患者隐匿性区域淋巴结转移的标准方法。SLNB 在薄型黑色素瘤患者中的应用仍在评估中。尽管 SLNB 已被确立为黑色素瘤患者的分期程序，但它的治疗作用仍不清楚。正在进行的大规模随机试验应阐明与“观察等待”（观察）策略相比，SLNB 联合完全淋巴结清扫术是否对有早期淋巴结转移的黑色素瘤患者具有生存获益。
