Surgical treatment of lymph nodes with metastatic melanoma from unknown primary site
J. H. Wong, L. A. Cagle and D. L. Morton
Division of Surgical Oncology, John Wayne Cancer Clinic, UCLA School of Medicine 90024.
To determine the prognosis of patients with lymph node metastases from an
unknown primary melanoma, we retrospectively reviewed the clinicopathologic
features of 188 such patients treated from 1971 through 1986 and compared
their records with those of patients with clinical stage II melanoma with
known primary lesions. Patients with lymph node metastases from an unknown
primary melanoma represented 4.6% of all patients with melanoma treated
during that period. The five- and ten-year survival rates were 42% and 40%,
respectively (median, 37 months). When stratified by number of
tumor-containing lymph nodes, there was no significant difference in
survival between patients with an unknown primary melanoma and lymph node
metastases and those with clinical stage II melanoma and known primary
sites. The prognosis of the former patients is no worse than that of
patients with lymph node metastases from a known primary site and should be
treated in a comparable manner.
