Managing regional metastasis in patients with cutaneous head and neck melanoma – is selective neck dissection appropriate?

BackgroundNeck dissection is recommended for patients with head and neck cutaneous melanoma and nodal metastasis. However, there appears to be no clear evidence to guide the extent of nodal resection.MethodsLoco-regional recurrence (LR), overall survival (OS) and progression free survival (PFS) was retrospectively compared between patients who had Comprehensive neck dissection (CND) and Selective neck dissection (SND).ResultsThere was no difference in LR, OS and PFS between CND (n = 18) and SND groups (n = 79). Extra capsular extension (ECE), frontal disease and increasing number of involved nodes resulted in worse OS and PFS but had no impact on LR.ConclusionPatients with disease limited to one node without ECE can be effectively treated by SND alone. In patients who have these unfavourable pathological features more extensive nodal resection does not improve outcome if they receive radiotherapy. Extent of neck dissection or adjuvant radiotherapy has no impact on overall survival.