Benefit of sentinel lymphadenectomy for patients with nonulcerated cutaneous melanomas in the Breslow range between 0.76 and 1 mm: a follow-up study of 148 patients.

Sentinel lymphadenectomy (SLNE) is now internationally accepted for the primary treatment of melanomas thicker than 1 mm. But it is still controversial whether also patients with nonulcerated melanomas in the Breslow range between 0.76 and 1 mm should be included.

Clinical spectrum of cutaneous Langerhans' cell histiocytosis mimicking various diseases.

Langerhans' cell histiocytosis summarizes a spectrum of diseases on the basis of histogenetic criteria. These are characterized by an accumulation of cells with Langerhans' cell phenotype in one or multiple organs. Up to 50% of patients with either single or multi-organ manifestation of Langerhans' cell histiocytosis initially present with cutaneous symptoms.

[Gingival Burkitt lymphoma in a hepatitis C-positive renal transplant patient].

Malignant tumors are a frequent complication in the late phase after organ transplantation. Malignant lymphomas are the second most common tumor, exceeded only by cutaneous carcinomas. Compared to the general population, the organ transplant patients have a 30-60 fold increased risk of developing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

The prevalence of contact allergy differed between population-based and clinic-based data.

Objective: Epidemiologic evidence on contact allergy (CA) largely relies on clinical studies. However, the effects of the selection process until consultation as patient are largely unclear.

Study Design And Setting: Prevalences of contact allergy to important allergens estimated from the population-based nested case-control study "KORA Allergy Study" in Augsburg, Germany (a subsample from the third MONICA survey in 1997/1998, n=1141), were compared with proportions found in the Department of Dermatology of the Augsburg Municipal Hospital in patients of similar age patch tested between 1997 and 2000 (n=555).

Sentinel lymphonodectomy and s-classification: a successful strategy for better prediction and improvement of outcome of melanoma.

The most successful strategies in the management of melanoma have always been based on early diagnosis and timely surgical removal. Sentinel lymphonodectomy (SLNE) is the most reliable technique for the detection of melanoma micrometastases in regional lymph nodes. The micromorphometric S-classification, a routinely determinable surrogate of tumor burden in the sentinel lymph node (SLN), has high prognostic relevance.

Patients with lymphatic metastasis of cutaneous malignant melanoma benefit from sentinel lymphonodectomy and early excision of their nodal disease.

Early versus delayed excision of lymph node metastases is still being assessed in malignant melanoma. In the present retrospective, multicentre study, the outcome of 314 patients with positive sentinel lymphonodectomy (SLNE) was compared with the outcome of 623 patients with delayed lymph node dissection (DLND) of clinically enlarged lymph node metastases. In order to avoid the lead-time bias, survival was generally calculated from the excision of the primary tumour.

Sentinel lymphonodectomy in nonmelanoma skin malignancies.

Background: Whereas the value of sentinel lymphonodectomy (SLNE) in malignant melanoma is established, experience with SLNE in nonmelanoma skin cancers is limited.

Objectives: The feasibility of SLNE in nonmelanoma skin tumours is evaluated.

Methods: Thirty-seven patients with high-risk nonmelanoma skin tumours underwent SLNE: 11 squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs), seven Merkel cell carcinomas (MCCs), five cutaneous lymphomas, eight adnexal carcinomas and six other skin cancers, all clinical stage N0.

Tyrosinase RT-PCR as a supplement to histology for detecting melanoma and nevus cells in paraffin sections of sentinel lymph nodes.

The detection of tyrosinase mRNA in sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is a sensitive indicator for the presence of melanoma or nevus cells, but it does not enable a distinction between both. We have established an efficient method for extraction and reverse transcription of tyrosinase mRNA from paraffin sections that permits the close correlation of the RT-PCR results with (immuno)histologic findings in adjacent sections. One hundred fifty-three SLNs and 6 non-SLN specimens originating from 92 melanoma and 4 nonmelanoma patients were studied to test the reliability of this approach.

Prospective randomized trial of interferon alfa-2b and interleukin-2 as adjuvant treatment for resected intermediate- and high-risk primary melanoma without clinically detectable node metastasis.

Purpose: Low-dose interferon alfa (IFNalpha) has been shown to have limited effects in the adjuvant treatment of patients with intermediate- and high-risk primary melanoma. We hypothesized that a combination regimen with low-dose interleukin-2 (IL-2) may improve survival prospects in these patients.

Patients And Methods: After wide excision of primary melanoma without clinically detectable lymph node metastasis (pT3 to 4, cN0, M0), 225 patients from 10 participating centers were randomly assigned to receive either subcutaneous low-dose IFNalpha2b (3 million international units [MU]/m2/d, days 1 to 7, week 1; three times weekly, weeks 3 to 6, repeated all 6 weeks) plus IL-2 (9 MU/m2/d, days 1 to 4, week 2 of each cycle) for 48 weeks, or observation alone.

Meshed reversed dermal graft in patients with surgical defects of sole and scalp: technique and long-term results.

Background: Defects of the sole and the scalp require a reconstruction technique that combines a high survival rate in poorly vascularized areas with maximal mechanical strain.

Objective: To describe the technique of the meshed reversed dermal graft for reconstruction and to summarize the postoperative and long-term results.

Methods: Twenty-one patients have undergone reconstruction of defects following excision of acral lentiginous melanoma of the sole or squamous cell carcinoma of the sole or scalp.

The Augsburg experience: histological aspects and patient outcomes.

In Augsburg, sentinel lymphonodectomy (SLNE) was introduced into melanoma treatment in 1994. Diagnostic accuracy has been improved by early identification of sentinel lymph node (SLN) micrometastases and even more by their histomorphometric assessment. The S classification defines three categories of SLN metastases, S1 to S3, supplemented by S0 in the absence of metastasis.

A micromorphometry-based concept for routine classification of sentinel lymph node metastases and its clinical relevance for patients with melanoma.

Background: The sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) as the primary targets for lymphatic metastases can be removed selectively by gamma probe-guided sentinel lymph nodectomy (SLNE) in nearly all patients with cutaneous melanoma. Correspondingly high standards in terms of specificity, sensitivity, and microstaging are required for the evaluation of SLNs.

Methods: Since 1995, the authors have performed SLNE in 389 lymph node regions (LNRs) on 342 patients with melanoma.

Prognostic and therapeutic implications of sentinel lymphonodectomy and S-staging in Merkel cell carcinoma.

Background: Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare but very aggressive neuroendocrine neoplasm of the skin with a high propensity for early lymph node metastasis and subsequent distant spread. Optimal treatment and prognostic factors are poorly defined.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to assess the prognostic and therapeutic relevance of sentinel lymphonodectomy in MCC.

The predictive value of the sentinel lymph node in malignant melanomas.

At the beginning of a lymphogenous metastasizing process in malignant melanomas, the first tumor cells are found in the so-called sentinel lymph node (SLN), defined as the first tumor-draining lymph node. Its removal and histopathological examination enable us to discover metastases of malignant melanomas long before their possibility of detection by any other method. Since the beginning of 1995, we have performed more than 350 gamma-probe-guided sentinel lymphonodectomies (gamma-SLNE), without any clinical evidence of metastases as determined by lymphoscintigraphy.