Skin Cancer Unit, Arcispedale Santa Maria Nuova Istituto di Ricerca e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS), Reggio Emilia, Italy.
Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Medical School, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Lancet Oncol. 2014 Apr;15(4):e178-83. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(13)70608-9.
Sentinel lymph node biopsy has been proposed as a diagnostic method for estimation of the malignant potential of atypical Spitz tumours. However, although cell deposits are commonly detected in the sentinel lymph nodes of patients with atypical Spitz tumours, their prognosis is substantially better than that of patients with melanoma and positive sentinel lymph node biopsies. We did a systematic review of published reports to assess the role of sentinel lymph node biopsy as a prognostic method in the management of atypical Spitz tumours. The results of our analysis did not show any prognostic benefit of sentinel lymph node biopsy; having a positive sentinel lymph node does not seem to predict a poorer outcome for patients with atypical Spitz tumours. These findings indicate that, especially in the paediatric population, it might be prudent initially to use complete excision with clear margins and careful clinical follow-up in patients with atypical Spitz tumours.
前哨淋巴结活检已被提议作为一种诊断方法，用于评估非典型 Spitz 肿瘤的恶性潜能。然而，尽管在患有非典型 Spitz 肿瘤的患者的前哨淋巴结中通常可以检测到细胞沉积物，但它们的预后明显优于黑色素瘤和前哨淋巴结活检阳性的患者。我们对已发表的报告进行了系统评价，以评估前哨淋巴结活检作为非典型 Spitz 肿瘤管理中的一种预后方法的作用。我们的分析结果并未显示前哨淋巴结活检有任何预后益处；前哨淋巴结阳性似乎并不能预测非典型 Spitz 肿瘤患者的预后更差。这些发现表明，特别是在儿科人群中，对于患有非典型 Spitz 肿瘤的患者，最初明智的做法可能是进行完整切除，切缘清晰，并进行仔细的临床随访。
