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Soo Park, MD
Soo Park, MD
Posted: Friday, May 10, 2024
During a panel discussion at the 2024 Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) Annual Meeting (Abstract 62), researchers discussed the use of the integrated 31-gene-expression profile test in patients as an alternative to the traditional but invasive sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) for cutaneous melanoma. J. Michael Guenther, MD, of St. Elizabeth Physicians, Cincinnati, and colleagues found that 25% of patients undergoing SLNB had less than 5% of the predicted risk when assessed using the gene-expression profile test. Additionally, of those with a predicted risk of at least 5%, 8.6% had a positive node, and of those with a predicted risk of less than 5%, no patients had a positive node.
A total of 322 patients were included in this prospective, multicenter study that analyzed the effect of the integrated 31-gene-expression profile test and SLNB risk prediction on biopsy decisions in patients with T1 or T2 cutaneous melanoma. Ultimately, the decision to move ahead with the SLNB was determined by the physician and the patient. Clinical data were analyzed by the integrated 31-gene-expression profile test for SLNB, and patients with a predicted risk of less than 5% were considered to be at low risk.
Findings revealed that SLNB was performed in 43.5% (140/322) of patients with T1 or T2 tumors. The overall positivity rate was 6.4% (9/140), and 35 patients (25.0%) undergoing SLNB had a less than 5% predicted risk of a positive node (n = 11 T1a; 19 T1b; 4 T2a; 1 T2b). Of those with a total of at least 5% predicted risk, 8.6% (9/105) had a positive node. Additional findings revealed that of those with a predicted risk of up to 5%, none had a positive node. Based on these findings, the study authors concluded that patients with a less than 5% risk of developing positive nodes should reconsider undergoing the biopsy procedure.
Disclosure: For full disclosures of the study authors, visit sso2024.com.
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