LOP12

The document presents the findings of a study on desmoplastic melanoma (DM) and the incidence of nodal metastasis, with a focus on the utility of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in this melanoma subtype. Over a twelve-year period (1998-2010), 24 patients (0.7% of 3531 melanoma cases) with DM were identified at the Yale Melanoma Unit. Of these, 22 underwent SLNB, and 4 (18%) were found to have micro-metastasis. Following completion lymphadenectomy, no additional positive nodes were found. Over a median follow-up of 25 months, 2 patients (9%) had local recurrence, 2 (9%) had in-transit recurrence, and 6 (27%) developed distant metastases. The study found higher rates of nodal metastasis in both pure DM (14%) and mixed DM (25%) subtypes compared to previously reported rates. Consequently, the authors recommend SLNB for patients with both pure and mixed DM subtypes.