BACKGROUND: Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) for @entity135 is challenging due to unpredictable drainage. We sought to determine the frequency of drainage to multiple lymphatic basins and asked if this was associated with prognosis in a large, single-center cohort. METHODS: We queried @entity1 diagnosed with @entity135 who had a SLNB performed from January 1998 to April 2016. Demographic and clinical characteristics were compared using Student's t test, Pearson chi-square analysis, log-rank test, Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test, and Kaplan-Meier curves. RESULTS: We identified 269 @entity1 with @entity135 that had SLNBs performed in the following locations: 223 neck, 92 parotid/preauricular, 29 @entity14153 . There were 68 (25%) @entity1 who had drainage to multiple basins. These @entity1 were similar to those with single basin drainage in age, gender distribution, @entity92 , and percent with a positive SLNB (all p > 0.05). Fewer @entity1 with drainage to multiple basins had a completion lymph node dissection (CLND, p = 0.03). A trend toward increased 3-year locoregional recurrence was seen for @entity1 with drainage to multiple basins in univariate analysis (27% vs. 18%, p = 0.10) but was lost in multivariate analysis (p = 0.49), possibly because of higher recurrence rates in @entity1 with positive nodes but no CLND (p = 0.02). No difference was detected for distant recurrence or overall survival based on SLN drainage. CONCLUSIONS: Head and neck @entity320 SLNB drainage to multiple basins is common. Drainage to multiple basins does not seem to be associated with @entity1600 , locoregional recurrence, distant recurrence, or survival.

Implications of Sentinel Lymph Node Drainage to Multiple Basins in XXXX .

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients'] @entity135 :: ('MESH:D006258', 'Disease') :: ['head and neck melanomas', 'head and neck melanoma'] @entity14153 :: ('MESH:D004428', 'Disease') :: ['occipital/posterior auricular, 1 axilla'] @entity1600 :: ('MESH:D014388', 'Disease') :: ['increased sentinel lymph node positivity'] @entity92 :: ('MESH:D007222', 'Disease') :: ['Breslow depth'] @entity320 :: ('MESH:D008545', 'Disease') :: ['melanoma']
@entity135 :: (MESH:D006258,Disease) :: ['Head and Neck Melanoma']
