Pediatric melanoma: Confirming the diagnosis with sentinel node biopsy

Many pediatric melanoma lesions present at a more advanced stage than those in the adult population. Clinical and histological melanoma mimics, includ ing a subset of Spitz nevi, are difficult to discriminate from melanoma. Wh en dealing with a childhood melanoma, the clinician is likely to be faced w ith a thick lesion, and one in which the actual diagnosis may even be in do ubt. There is a paucity of data to guide the physician in his management of melanoma in this age group, particularly with respect to node status and a djuvant therapy. The authors present two cases of pediatric melanoma in whi ch the novel use of sentinel node biopsy helped confirm the diagnosis of me lanoma, determined the need for full lymph node dissection, and guided the use of adjuvant interferon therapy.