THE USE OF SELECTIVE LYMPHADENECTOMY IN SQUAMOUS-CELL CARCINOMA OF THE WRIST - A CASE-REPORT

Squamous cell carcinoma is the second most common skin cancer in human s and has a rare of metastasis of 0.5%-5.9%. Regional lymphadenectomy is generally not recommended for patients with advanced lesions and cl inically node-negative disease. Selective lymphadenectomy using preope rative lymphoscintigraphy and intraoperative radiolymphoscintigraphy a nd vital dye injections to identify the sentinel lymph node may help i n staging patients with upper-extremity squamous cell carcinoma while avoiding the complications of a complete axillary node dissection. The case of a patient with a large squamous cell carcinoma of the wrist w ith clinically negative findings an axillary examination who was found to have a sentinel lymph node containing metastatic tumor is presente d. Although this treatment method is still considered investigational, it holds great promise for nodal staging by being able to detect occu lt metastatic nodal disease in otherwise clinically node-negative pati ents.