• Andrea Fernandes de Oliveira, Ivan Dunshee de Abranches Oliveira Santos, Thaís Cardoso de Mello Tucunduva, Luciana Garbelini Sanches, Renato Santos Oliveira Filho, Mílvia Maria Simões e Silva Enokihara, and Lydia Masako Ferreira.
• Unit of Skin Tumors, Plastic Surgery Division, Department of Surgery, Federal University of São Paulo, SP, Brazil. drandreafernandes@terra.com.br
• Acta Cir Bras. 2007 Sep 1;22(5):332-6.

PurposeTo assess the importance of sentinel lymph node biopsy in patients with cutaneous melanoma.MethodsNinety consecutive non-randomized patients with stages I and II melanoma who underwent sentinel lymph node biopsy were followed up prospectively for six years.ResultsPatients were followed up for a mean period of 30 months. Their mean age was 53.3 years, ranging from 12 to 83 years. Thirty patients were male (37.5%) and 50, female (62.5%). Sentinel lymph node was positive in 32.5% and negative in 67.5%. It was found that the thicker the tumor, the greater the incidence of positive sentinel lymph nodes. In the group of patients with positive sentinel lymph nodes, recurrence occurred in 43.5%, but in those with negative sentinel lymph nodes, in only 7%, what points out to the association of tumor recurrence and positive sentinel lymph nodes. There were no major postoperative complications.ConclusionSentinel lymph node biopsy was demonstrated to be a safe method for selecting patients who need therapeutic lymphadenectomy.

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