Staging of regional nodes in AJCC stage I and II melanoma: 18FDG PET imaging versus sentinel node detection.

Primary Purpose: The staging of regional nodes by means of sentinel node detection has been shown to accurately detect subclinical nodal metastases from cutaneous melanoma. On the other hand, the oncological applications of 18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography (18FDG PET) are, nowadays, firmly established. However, the sensitivity of such metabolic imaging for staging the regional nodes in primary melanoma remains debatable.