The role of sentinel lymph node biopsy in the management of thin melanoma

The lifetime risk for developing thin (≤1 mm) melanoma continues to increase steadily. Although generally associated with an excellent prognosis, it also has a proven capacity to metastasize. There has been increasing interest in using sentinel lymph node biopsy to improve staging for thin melanoma. However, it is difficult to define clinicopathologic factors that reliably predict the presence of nodal metastasis. The prognostic significance of a positive sentinel lymph node in thin melanoma remains to be defined.