Sentinel lymph node biopsy appears beneficial for metastatic tumors

The authors performed a prospective, nonrandomized clinical study to assess the utility of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) for identifying various types of conjunctival and eyelid cancers. They also investigated SLNB’s impact on therapeutic indications relative to other factors, such as Breslow thickness, tumor size and presence of ulcerations. In most patients, SLNG was reasonably safe and allowed avoidance of complete cervical lymphadenectomy.

Seventeen patients were studied. Lesions included melanomas (n=4), Merkel cell tumors (n=4), squamous cell carcinomas (n=8) and sebaceous cell carcinoma (n=1). Each procedure identified three to 13 sentinel lymph nodes. Two patients, one with Merkel cell tumor and one with squamous cell carcinoma, had pathological evidence of nodal invasion and underwent cervical lymph node dissections. One patient with a squamous cell carcinoma had a false negative study. Seven patients received additional adjuvant regional therapy despite negative studies.

The authors note that the performance of SLNB avoided the implementation of adjunct regional treatment in some cases. However, in some cases the decision to complete treatment was based on other criteria, such as significant initial tumor size and nononcological surgical excision. Nevertheless, they think SLNB should be recommended for all tumors with a metastasis potential.