I had a mole removed 1/12/09 that came back as...
malignant melanoma, superficial spreading type, 1.0mm of Breslow thickness, Clark Level of III/IV, margins clear (peripheral - 4.0mm, deep - widely clear
Comments-
1) the lesion is asymmetrical and poorly circumscribed; 2) confluent nests of melanocytes are distributed unevenly across the front of this lesion; 3) distribution of melanocytes, lymphocytes, pigmnet, and rate ridges is uneven; 4) in some high power fields, solitary melanocytes are predominant over nests and they are pagetoid in foci; 5) there is absence of maturation in the central perotion melanocytic lesion
Was referred to a oncology surgeon who recommended a Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy and radical excision of the original mole location.
Had surgery for SLNB and radical excision on 2/11/09. Surgeon went in for a lymph node but came out with fat cells....
Lymph node biopsy: fibroadipose tissue with no evidence of lymph node on multiple levels
Wide Excision: no evidence of residual melanoma, lateral and deep margins negative for tumor
At surgery follow up appointment, surgeon said to come back in 3 months for him to keep an eye on my lymph nodes.
I'm wondering if there are any other tests to run to get an idea if the cancer did get into the lymph nodes, or if a conservative approach of wait and see is smarter than a more aggressive approach. My 30th birthday is 2 months out and trying to figure out how serious my case is and if I should be pushing for more aggressiveness on the doctors part or if from the pathology reports, if it's an okay approach to keep up with quarterly follow ups for skin and lymph nodes and feel optimistic that cancer isn't going wild undiagnosed and unchecked.