Long-Term Survival Analysis and Clinical Follow-Up in Acral Lentiginous Malignant Melanoma Undergoing Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy in Korean Patients

BACKGROUND In cutaneous malignant melanoma (MM) with clinically uninvolved regional lymph nodes, sentinel lymph node (SLN) status is the most powerful indicator of both overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). However, no studies on the long-term survival and clinical follow-up of Korean patients with acral lentiginous MM (ALM) undergoing SLN biopsy (SLNB) have been published. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical prognosis and long-term survival of Korean patients with ALM according to SLN status. METHODS Thirty-four ALM patients undergoing SLNB were included in this study. We evaluated clinical and histopathological follow-up data such as the stage of disease, treatment, recurrence, and metastasis, and analyzed OS and DFS according to SLN status. RESULTS The median follow-up time was 60.5 months (range 3~127 months). Positive SLNs were noted in 14 patients (41.2%). Patients with negative SLNs had better OS and DFS than those with positive SLNs (p<0.05). Increased Breslow thickness was associated with short OS and DFS (p<0.05), and female patients showed better DFS than male patients (p<0.05). CONCLUSION To our knowledge, this is the first study on the long-term survival and clinical follow-up of patients undergoing SLNB for ALM in Korea. Our findings show that SLN status is an important prognostic factor for predicting OS and DFS.