Current role of immunoscintigraphy in malignant melanoma follow-up. A study of 114 patients.
J Exp Clin Cancer Res
; 20(1): 11-5, 2001 Mar.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-11370816
ABSTRACT
Although its role and importance is debated, Immunoscintigraphy (IS) remains a popular technique in Malignant Melanoma (MM) follow-up for postoperative assessment. Between April 1990 and December 1996, 287 consecutive patients underwent 650 IS examinations at our Department. Only data on 114 patients, operated up to December 1993, with a follow-up of at least 7 years are given here. IS results were compared to physical examination, to other imaging modalities and, where available, to histology. IS specificity and sensivity, concerning detection of melanoma metastases in lymph nodes, skin, brain, lung, visceral sites and bone, ranged from 37.5% and 22% to 100%. Our results indicate a high diagnostic accuracy of IS only for lymph node examination, but not for other possible locations of melanoma metastases. In our experience IS cannot be recommended for staging of melanoma patients, and should only be used in association with other imaging modalities.
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Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Skin Neoplasms
/
Radioimmunodetection
/
Melanoma
Type of study:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Aged80
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
En
Journal:
J Exp Clin Cancer Res
Year:
2001
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Italia