The role of modified neck dissection in the treatment of cutaneous melanoma of the head and neck
R. M. Byers
One hundred eighty-one patients were treated with a modified neck
dissection for suspected or proved metastatic melanoma during a ten-year
period. The overall failure rate in the neck was 16%. Eighty-three percent
of the patients with neck recurrence died of disseminated disease. A
modified neck dissection that preserves important functional and cosmetic
structures but does not compromise cancer control seemed to be appropriate
treatment for actual or suspected melanoma metastatic to cervical nodes.
