Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy in Patients with Thick Primary Cutaneous Melanoma: Patterns of Use and Underuse Utilizing a Population-Based Model

Table 1

Patient and tumor characteristics of 1,991 patients with thick primary cutaneous melanoma according to whether or not they received a sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB).

Variable	SLNB,; N = 1,158 (%)	No SLNB,; N = 833 (%)	P value
Age, years
1 to 39	97 (8.4)	21 (2.5)	<0.001
40 to 49	135 (11.7)	43 (5.2)
50 to 59	239 (20.6)	65 (7.8)
60 to 69	243 (21)	97 (11.6)
70 to 79	268 (23.1)	192 (23.1)
80 or more	176 (15.2)	415 (49.8)
Sex
Female	416 (35.9)	525 (63)	=0.631
Male	742 (64.1)	308 (37)
Race/ethnicity
Asian	22 (1.9)	8 (1)	=0.062
Black	13 (1.1)	14 (1.7)
Hispanic	55 (4.8)	30 (3.6)
Native American	6 (0.5)	1 (0.1)
Unknown	6 (0.5)	10 (1.2)
White	1,056 (91.2)	770 (92.4)
Mean Breslow depth; (mm)	6.83	6.35	<0.001
Tumor histology
Acral lentiginous	58 (5)	26 (3.1)	=0.053
Amelanotic	33 (2.9)	19 (2.3)
Desmoplastic	225 (19.4)	160 (19.2)
Epidermoid	28 (2.4)	16 (1.9)
Lentigo maligna	16 (1.4)	23 (2.8)
Nevus associated	7 (0.6)	4 (0.5)
Nodular	606 (52.3)	463 (55.6)
Regressing	9 (0.8)	1 (0.1)
Superficial Spreading	176 (15.2)	121 (14.5)
Tumor location
Arm	301 (26)	202 (24.3)	<0.001
Head/neck	261 (22.5)	315 (37.8)
Leg	226 (19.5)	114 (13.7)
Trunk	368 (31.8)	194 (23.3)
Overlapping/other	2 (0.2)	8 (1)
Tumor ulceration
No	501 (43.3)	356 (42.7)	=0.857
Yes	632 (54.6)	456 (54.7)
Unknown	25 (2.2)	21 (2.5)