Prognostic factors after cervical lymph node dissection for cutaneous melanoma metastases.

Cervical lymph node dissection (CLND) is the surgical therapy used for the local control of regionally metastasized cutaneous head and neck melanoma. This study evaluated the outcome of patients undergoing CLND at our institution in order to determine the prognostic factors for recurrence-free survival and overall survival after this procedure. The hospital records of 66 patients with histologically proven lymph node metastases who underwent curative or palliative CLND between 1982 and 2004 were analysed.