Ganglionul-santinelă – etapă de diagnostic al stadiului de boală în melanomul cutanat.

Melanoma is an aggressive malignant tumor that most commonly occurs on the skin; however, it can also affect other organs such as the eye, meninges, and mucous membranes. The increasing incidence in recent decades determines the need for continuous improvement of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment methods. The main treatment is surgical excision with safety margins, and the most important predictor of survival and recurrence is the status of regional lymph nodes. Currently, sentinel lymph node biopsy is the standard staging method for patients with melanoma with a tumor thickness between 1 and 4 mm and with clinically negative lymph nodes for tumor invasion. This procedure consists of identifying the first lymph node, called the sentinel node, that could be invaded by the tumor, removing it, followed by its histopathological analysis. Following the evaluation of the sentinel lymph node, the necessity for regional lymphadenectomy can be determined, and also patients can receive new adjuvant therapies such as immunotherapy and targeted therapies to improve their prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]