Survival study of cervico-facial melanomas at 3 years without recurrence: impact of non-analysis of the sentinel lymph node.

Introduction: The prevalence of melanoma of the head and neck has been steadily increasing over the last decades. Until now, sentinel lymph node analysis has been the most important prognostic factor for survival in the management of melanoma. The cervicofacial region has a complex lymphatic drainage system and sentinel node biopsy in this region is still the subject of debate. The main objective of this study was to compare the 3-year recurrence-free survival of patients who had undergone a successful sentinel node procedure with that of patients who had not undergone sentinel node analysis.

Method: The observational and retrospective study focused on patients with cervicofacial melanoma who were treated at the Dijon University Hospital for a surgical and technical revision of the sentinel lymph node between January 2005 and December 2021.

Results: Sixty-eight patients were included, 47 of whom were able to undergo surgery and benefit from the sentinel node technique. The main reason for the failure of this technique was the impossibility of locating the sentinel node during preoperative lymphoscintigraphy (52.4 %). No statistically significant difference (p = 0.87) in 3-year recurrence-free survival was observed between the group of patients who did not undergo a successful sentinel node procedure and the group of patients who were able to fully benefit from it.

Conclusion: Three-year recurrence-free survival was not affected by the absence of sentinel node analysis in cases of melanoma of the head and neck when indicated, compared to sentinel node removal and analysis.