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Immediate complete lymph node dissection does not improve melanoma survival, study finds

Immediate complete lymph node dissection in patients with melanoma and sentinel node metastases did not increase melanoma specific survival, a large randomised trial has found.1

Currently, sentinel node biopsy is often recommended for patients undergoing surgery for melanoma, to determine whether the cancer has metastasised. If metastases are found, immediate removal of the remaining regional lymph nodes—called complete lymph node dissection—is generally advised. However, it has not been clear whether this approach was beneficial.

The international Multicenter Selective Lymphadenectomy Trial (MSLT-II) randomly assigned 1934 patients with clinically localised melanoma but a tumour positive sentinel …