Hi,

OK, no one can recommend whether to have the SLNB, it has to be purely your decision after weighing up the Positives & Negatives.

The first thing to bear in mind is that it is not a treatment - it's purely used as a staging tool. At the moment you are Staged 1b based on the thickness of your tumour. If you have the SLNB and there is no melanoma found in the sentinel node, you will remain at 1b and will just have regular monitoring ('watch & wait' as we melanoma patients call it). If melanoma is found in the node, your stage changes to Stage 3 and you become eligible for a period of adjuvant drug therapy to help get rid of the melanoma in the node & to help prevent recurrence. 

The positive for having a SLNB is that you will know your correct staging quickly &, if drug treatment is needed, will get it asap. Also, if you are the type of person that likes to know exactly where you stand health wise, it helps you mentally deal with it.

The negative is that there is a small chance of lymphoedema but it's usually mild. Also, it may delay you having the WLE as both procedures have to be done at the same time. As a radiographer is necessary for the SLNB this sometimes causes the delay and make a difference of a few weeks.

So, it all really depends what type of person you are. Do you like to know all the information regarding your diagnosis & the exact staging & you don't mind the chance of getting mild lymphoedema & the procedures possibly being delayed? Or would you prefer not to know if it's in the node and have the WLE done quicker? Some patients choose to forego the SLNB and are offered regular ultrasounds of the node area instead - that's something you would have to ask your hospital about. 

Personally, I wasn't offered the SLNB as I was diagnosed 27 years ago & didn't fit the criteria. If I had, knowing what I know now (Stage 3 13 years later), I would have accepted the procedure & hopefully caught it before it went to my groin & pelvic nodes.  

I hope this helps. Good luck & please let us know how you get on,

Angie

Hi Angie,

This is very helpful thank you. I’m not bothered about having to wait on procedures and it would be good to find out if it’s in the node but the thought of getting lymphoedema scares me! I know the chances of getting it are very low and maybe if I was older it wouldn’t bother me as much but I’ve just turned 33 so still young. 

So if I decided not to go ahead with the biopsy is it a case that my doctor would just have a good feel of my groin for swollen nodes when I’m at my follow up appointments and ovcourse I will also be monitoring my groin. I’m just concerned that the if the melanoma has travelled to the nodes and I don’t get the biopsy done it’s then more difficult to treat.

Thanks 

I suggest you ask your hospital if they provide regular ultrasounds if you decided to decline the SLNB. If they do (some hospitals don't) they will pick up any activity in the node area. Otherwise, it's a combination of you & your consultant regularly checking your node areas. This is something that all consultants (or Cancer Nurse Specialists) are supposed to do at every check up anyway.