RT Journal
A1 Linos E
T1 Sentinel lymph node biopsy in early melanoma: Comment on “what the surgeon should have said to my patient with thin malignant melanoma”
JF Archives of Internal Medicine
JO Archives of Internal Medicine
YR 2012
FD June 25
VO 172
IS 12
SP 907
OP 907
DO 10.1001/archinternmed.2012.1905
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archinternmed.2012.1905
AB 
Sentinel node biopsy may be a useful prognostic tool for a subset of melanomas of intermediate stage.1 The Perspective by Benjamin and Froom,2 however, highlights the problems with its use in a different situation: a patient with an early stage IA melanoma, 0.5 mm in depth, without ulceration or a high mitotic rate. This patient has an excellent prognosis, with a 98% expected survival at 15 years and a greater than 97% chance of having clear lymph nodes.3- 4