Residual nodal disease after excisional biopsy of a palpable, positive node in melanoma.

The medical records of 365 patients with the diagnosis of malignant melanoma who underwent axillary (n = 210) or groin (n = 155) dissection at a cancer referral center were reviewed. Sixty-one patients were referred after excisional biopsy of a palpable, histologically positive node. After node dissection, 75% of these patients were found to have additional, microscopically involved nodes, which confirms the advisability of node dissection after biopsy of a positive regional node.