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Richard J Bold, MD
Sacramento, Calif

Arch Surg. 2002;137:461.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

The optimal surgical management of the regional nodal basin in cutaneous melanoma has long been an area of controversy. Four prospective trials have been conducted to determine whether ELND is superior to observation; unfortunately, no survival benefit has been observed. Lens et al report the results of a meta-analysis combining data from 3 of these trials. Using the end point of overall survival at 5 years, they observed a nonsignificant pooled odds ratio of 0.86 in favor of ELND. The authors assert that the trials are of questionable validity and call for an additional large-scale trial to resolve this issue. It is unlikely that another prospective randomized trial of ELND will be conducted given the development of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB). The goals of surgery directed at the regional nodal basin for cutaneous melanoma include identification of metastases and therapeutic removal of these metastases. Sentinel . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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Elective Lymph Node Dissection in Patients With Melanoma: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
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ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT