Laryngo- rhino- otologie
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Laryngo- rhino- otologie · Jan 2003
[Cutaneous malignant melanoma of the head and neck with intermediate tumor thickness: the role of elective lymph node dissection for clinical stage I].
At present a tendency towards a more limited surgery in the treatment of clinical stage I and II melanoma exists. The controversy of elective lymph node dissections (ELND) in stage-I-melanoma with intermediate tumor thickness continues to be discussed. The sentinel lymph node biopsy may provide improved staging accuracy. ⋯ No therapeutic value for ELND in clinical stage I malignant melanoma of the head and neck with intermediate tumor thickness could be shown. The low incidence of occult nodal metastases and "skip"-metastases represents the basic for sentinel lymph node biopsy.