Prognostic factors of primary cutaneus melanoma.

INTRODUCTION The purpose of this study was to identify tumor characteristics of primary malignant melanoma predictive of sentinel lymph node positive status, and then to determine whether sentinel lymph node status has an impact on recurrence and survival. MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 100 patients with primary malignant skin melanoma were analyzed. The prospective melanoma database identified patients with histologically confirmed cutaneus melanoma, clinically negative and clinically positive regional lymph nodes with no evidence of distant disease, who had undergone surgery between April 2001 and May 2012. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to assess factors that predict sentinel lymph node positive status, recurrence and survival. RESULTS We identified Breslow's thickness and lymphocytic response as independent predictors of sentinel lymph node status in cutaneous melanoma patients. Sentinel lymph node status was a significant predictor of disease free survival. CONCLUSION Despite the limitation, this study confirms Breslow's thickness and tumor lymphocytic infiltration as two factors predictive of sentinel lymph node metastasis in cutaneous melanoma patients. We also found sentinel lymph node status to be the most significant independent predictor of disease free survival and identified sentinel lymph node status as an important variable to consider when estimating the risk of regional recurrence.