Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy for Melanoma

This is an invaluable test to see whether your melanoma skin cancer has spread. Catching the tumour spread early and dealing with it means better survival chances. This test provides the most accurate prognosis. This is a simple test taking 30-60 minutes under general anaesthetic whereby some trace dye is injected into your melanoma scar to determine the first lymphatic drainage site. The lymph node or gland that it drains to is removed for analysis to determine if the cancer cells have spread. If it is positive then we have caught it early and surgery can be performed to prevent further spread.