Sentinel lymph node biopsy in cutaneous melanoma

Summary. Today sentinel lymph node biopsy in cutaneous melanoma is a standard diagnostic procedure. The factors that have prognostic value for occurrence of micrometastases in regional lymph nodes are tumor thickness by Breslow, ulceration, level of invasion by Clark IV–V, the patient’s age. The presence or absence of metastases in «sentinel» lymph nodes is a significant prognostic factor for patients with primary malignant melanoma of the skin. The need for implementation of regional lymph node dissection in the presence of micrometastases in sentinel lymph nodes remains an open question and requires further investigation.