TITLE:
Sentinel Node in Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Trunk and Extremities: Experience in a Latin American Reference Center
AUTHORS:
S. E. Díaz, J. P. Molina, D. F. Contreras, D. López, O. A. García, M. García, C. Lehmann, J. Ángel, C. Duarte
KEYWORDS:
Skin Neoplasms, Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Cancer Therapy,
Vol.9 No.2,
February
23,
2018
ABSTRACT: This paper aims to assess the use of the sentinel
node technique in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the trunk and extremities in
a Latin American oncology reference center. The descriptive
retrospective cohort study included 60
patients diagnosed with SCC of the trunk and extremities, submitted to surgical
treatment of the primary tumor and sentinel node biopsy at the breast and soft
tissue tumor services of the National Institute of Cancerology (Bogotá,
Colombia) over a period of 6 years. The sentinel node was identified in 96.6%
(58/60) of the patients. The sentinel node pathology report was negative in
81.7% (49), positive in 15% (9). There
were no complications due to the procedure in 85% of the patients. The mean
recurrence-free survival time was 8.3 months (CI 95% 5.0 to 11.5 months) in
patients with positive sentinel node and 58.6 months (CI 95% 47.8 to 69.3
months) in patients with negative results. Only 4 of 49 patients (8.1%) with
negative sentinel node had regional relapse. The
study evidenced that the sentinel node technique in patients with high-risk SCC
of the trunk and extremities is an adequate staging tool for the lymph node
chain, with a low rate of associated complications. This opens an interesting
opportunity for prospective cohort studies that can demonstrate statistically
significant differences.